Living on Borrowed Time
by KuroKapibara
Summary: He should have died that faithful day but he didn't. Since then Yuuma have been living on borrowed time. Yuuma has come to enjoy his limited time by the side of his friends Osamu, Chika and Jin. What would happen if the short time was taken away? Now it's a race against time for his friends to save the humanoid neighbor. Will they succeed before the time runs out? - Trigger On!
1. Calm before the Storm

**A/N: Hi KuroKapibara here!**

 **Welcome to my first new story. Thanks to a friend who** **recommended** **me this anime/manga, I came into the world of World Trigger and** **immediately** **became** **obsessed** **with the story. I wanted more, sadly World Trigger is not popular as it should be. There is not enough material to satisfy me (except for great few fics). So my mind started to create stories and I wanted to contribute to the World Trigger community and grew courage to write this fic. I hope you guys like it.**

 **English is not my native language and it's not beta-ed, but I wanted to practice. So please bear with me and feel free to correct me wherever I made a mistake. Also if any kind soul liked the story and want to help me by beta reading it, I would be** **ecstatic and really grateful.**

 **Disclaimer: KuroKapibara does not own World Trigger, the credit goes to its creator ASHIHARA Daisuke.**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

 **Chapter 1: Calm before the storm**

Neighbors are those who inhabit adjacent worlds called Neighborhood. Four and a half years ago, a gate to another world was opened in Mikado City, by those who sought Trion and a large scale invasion took place. The battle was known as the First Large-Scale Invasion, people tremble with fear and thought their city would be destroyed. That's when a mysterious group showed up and got rid of the Neighbors.

The invasion was brought down by the action of Border Defense Agency, namely Border. Since then Border has pressed forward with studying 'Trigger' along with Neighbor technology and has been battling them. And so, Mikado City has been kept in peace through their actions.

Now again, four and a half years later. Mikado city was exposed to the Neighbor's large-scale attack by the military nation, Aftokrator. The Trion Solders and the Humanoid Neighbors who manipulated the powerful black triggers came to invade. Standing up undaunted and bravely against the surge of unbeatable enemies were the border agents. Finally, the helm was steered towards their victory at the crossroads of fate at the cost of a great sacrifice.

With the threat no longer present and their determination reaffirmed, our heroes Yuuma, Osamu and Chika, sought to move forward to achieve their goals, aiming to get selected for the away squads to the neighborhood. Therefore they engaged in the B-Rank wars in which they claimed victory in every tussle, thereby making them an official squad known as Takoma-2 of the branch division.

As official agents they were now part of Border and so our heroes took the oath for which the Agency was created: Guarantying the security and protection to all the citizens of Mikado City from the threat of the invading beings, the Neighbors. And sooner than they expected, Border was putting that motto to use since they were now facing another invasion, culminating the brief time of peace in which all the agents had fought for. All agents, from A-rank, B-rank, C-rank, S-class and elite, were fighting hard throughout the city, repressing the incoming waves of enemies of all kinds.

Will border be able to, once again, triumph in the presence of the Neighbor's menace? Even now when they were taken by surprised, even more when they were just recovering from the preview invasion? And what would be the prize to pay for this victory?

 **\- Calm Before the Storm -**

"Asteroid!"

Complying the voice's command, a luminescent bluish cube manifested itself spinning slowly right above from a gloved hand, as in making them known it was ready to fire. The trigger didn't waste any more time before the cube divided itself in smaller bullets and honoring the name it was given, all the Trion Bullets left the housing palm in a quick motion like deadly accurate asteroids, heading towards their enemy. Who happened to be a rare cross between a rabbit and a Saltasaurus.

The type of Neighbor specialized in capture of civilian and extraction of Trion called "Bamster"; not the toughest of the bunch, nevertheless for those who had encountered this Trion Solder before would agree that penetrating the harden carcass was a pain to deal with. However, this Neighbor was its counterpart, a mid-size Trion Solder the "Bander"

The Trion Bullets impacted and perforated right on the weak spot of the giant, something not difficult to find since said weak spot resulted to be an eyeball in the middle of its toothy mouth. A trademark between Neighbors and forever engraved in the minds of all citizens. Hitting the weak point of the Trion Solder was the basic strategy to neutralize the enemy, especially to those who weren't strong enough to penetrate the thick armor or didn't want to waste any more time and keep it simple.

With the eyeball shattered and the prime source of Trion no longer functioning, the Bander was reduce to a large carcass crashing down on the buildings and houses that were slowly but surely being evacuated from its residents.

"Kya! Osamu-kun you did it!"

"Osamu-kun defeated the Neighbor!"

"Way to go, Osamu!"

"Give your best, Mikumo-kun!"

"As expected from a Border agent!"

"Mikumo, don't let us down!"

More and more cheers and acclamations filled the combat zone, all coming from the fellow classmates and students of the school that had been transformed into a battle ground. The preview atmosphere of fear and despair had dissipated, being replaced by the hopeful mood within every person at the promising scene taking place thanks to the act of the agents before them. The sight brought them hope and tranquility that was what Border signified to all of the citizens of Mikado City. Forget all the stuck-up press who always blamed the Agency after all its agents had risked their lives for their safety and protection.

The people of Mikado City were with Border until the end.

' _It was nothing really. The other squads would have done it faster and struggle less than me.'_ The acclaimed boy responded awkwardly in his mind.

The boy's name (if someone hadn't caught it after being acclaimed by the multitude) was Osamu Mikumo, a 15 year old teen who possessed black hair and green eyes, he wore his trademark glasses, something almost all his acquaintances from Border have come to acknowledge him for. His bright blue uniform announced proudly of his status in the organization, a B-rank agent and the leader of the three-man squad, Tamakoma-2. Osamu carried on one hand his Trion weapon 'The Raygust' excellent for defense more than offense. On the other one, projected floating above his palm was the responsible for the downfall of the large Neighbor, the Asteroid Bullets which showed his position as a Shooter.

A first glance Osamu was your typical nerdy boy, weak, scrawny, goody-two shoes, not ideal for prolonged physical activities much less for combat, and never forget his small Trion level. However behind those geeky glasses, an incredible mind was hidden, the mastermind behind the victory of his team in the rank wars. What Osamu lacked of physical condition and combat ability, he compensated it with creativity and wisdom, both attributes showing through his insane and successful strategies with also the capability of reading his opponents and learning from them.

' _They should be evacuating the school, not watching the fight'_ Osamu sweet dropped. His mind wandered to the time not long after he had met the feisty humanoid neighbor. The invaders had appeared in the school putting at risk the lives of the student body. He had tried to confront the intruders, only to end up being saved by Yuuma and giving Intel to the Aftokrator Nation about the C-rank agents. But that was before all the events had taken place, Osamu was positive that in the lapse of time between that encounter and now, he had been able to grow and improve.

Distracted by the scandal caused by the students and immerse in the depths of his mind, our hero failed to notice a Bamster making its way silently toward him. The preview cheers of enthusiasm had turned into distress shouts of warning at the direction of one of their saviors. Osamu snapped out of his line of thoughts when he picked up the change of mood from the bystanders who were desperately signaling directly behind him.

Osamu with fear in his body, rotated to face the source of warnings and immediately curse himself. How could he have been so stupid to get himself distracted in the middle of the fight, after all the times he was reminded by al his senpais to keep the head in the battle.

There was no way Osamu could avoid the incoming attack, not when he was face to face with a charging Bamster. The only way to survive was to change his Raygust into shield-mode and pray it would endure the attack, which he knew it would since the Raygust had withstand the impact of a Rabbit. But how many times could it last before it breaks? He didn´t know.

However the Bamster didn't have the opportunity to strike when a powerful ray shattered the eye of the Trion Solder, defeating him and making it scrap in the process. The leader dared to take a peak after waiting for the impact that never came and, once again, the shouts returned to those of joy and excitement at the potent counterattack that had neutralized the enemy.

Osamu couldn't help but to heave a sigh of relief; he had forgotten the most important part of this operation: he wasn't alone. ' _Thanks, Chika'_ Four eyes silently thanked the angel hiding in the in the tallest part of the building, for watching upon him and coming to his aid. He guessed after all the time he looked over her, it was now her time to return the favor and good thing too because Osamu hadn't seen a good outcome.

Chika was other member of the Squad, a 13 year old girl with black hair and expressive violet eyes. Chika was shy, polite, well behaved and kind-hearted. All this was ignored, being recognized for only on thing. The small girl had gain fame at Border and sometimes agents would only assist the matches to witness the devastating cannon being fired. The well-earned nickname was "Trion Monster" also known by his enemy as "The Golden Chick" because contained in that small package was the biggest Trion capability someone could own.

Other people would think of this gift as a blessing, but not Chika, for her it was a curse. A curse her best friend and brother had to pay the price instead of her, when the only thing the two kind souls wanted was to protect her. Chika never forgave herself, however thanks to her friends, Osamu and Yuuma, she had found hope yet again and a possibility to avenge them to show them their sacrifices hadn't been in vain. She was a fighter now and she would save them no matter how long it would take her… that was, if they were still alive in the neighbor worlds.

The Tamakoma-2 leader visualized the Neighbors specialized for combat, The Marmod. Three of them were heading directly towards the school buildings where all the students and teachers were still residing. ' _How long it would take to evacuate the building?!'_ It would make things easier if they didn´t have to worry for the student body.

Osamu wasn't confident if he could defeat the three Trion Solders, sure he had won against a Marmod before in the preview invasion but that was after hours and hours of constant practice in the Tamakoma training room to finally be able to beat just one Marmod. He doubted he could fight two at the same time, let alone three. And again, before Osamu took a step forward, a white and blueish blur passed over the three Trion Solders. For the first seconds nothing seemed to happen, the Marmods kept their trajectory heading straight to the group of defenseless civilians who shouted in terror at the incoming doom.

' _What?! There was no way Kuga had missed! Now I won't make it in time-'_ as a way of shoving his insecurities about his friend away, the three Marmods simultaneously burst into green particles of Trion just barely centimeters near their destination. It had occurred so fast that the aftershock left everyone blinking in confusion as they slowly came to the conclusion they had been saved and were no longer in danger. Once the scene had been assimilated the renewed cheers drowned every single structure in the institute.

"Hmm. They can be loud when the want" Informed a smug voice.

Osamu visibly jumped in his spot with the sudden voice coming from behind him, not because he didn't know the voice's owner. No, in fact, he had come to familiarized himself with the owner since he had been thrown into the world of humanoid Neighbors and other worlds thanks to the mysterious albino. No, it was because all the occurrences were starting to get the best of him.

Osamu knew he would have snapped long time ago if it hadn't been because his squad were counting on him, they had been the ones who had trusted him, believed in him enough to make him their leader. Osamu would make sure not to disappoint them.

"They don't seem to worry with the incoming Neighbors, not even when they know their lives are in danger and they could die" The white haired teen wondered out loud, dismissing the Trion-made weapon, 'The Scorpion'. Usually the person's instincts would have made them run in the opposite direction of danger, instead this odd ones were cheering quite loudly while being surrounded by deadly machines not caring in the lightless if they could be hurt by the crossfire. He would never understand the native people of Midden.

The Black haired teen tried not to visibly flinch at how easily his friend talked about the possibility of someone losing his life. He cleared his throat and adjusted his glasses, trying to compose himself. "It's because we are here, the agents of Border, fighting to protect them." Osamu responded at his companion's statement.

"Hmm. They have a lot of faith in the Organization" Said his friend while his penetrating red-eyes inspected his surroundings.

"Well, Border has never done anything to prove them wrong. Especially when they have agents like Jin-san, Tachikawa-san or Kazama-san. There is also Shinoda-san too." ' _And don't forget about you, Yuuma'_ Osamu complemented in his mind. It was incredible how strong agents like them existed, and relatively young at that. "I don't see them being defeated so easily."

"True, true" The boy recognized as Yuuma agreed comically with a nod of his head and a hand under his chin.

Last but definitely not least was the boy who was more than met the eye, Yuuma Kuga. White hair, unusual red eyes, and short stature for a 15 year old; along with a goofy, childish and clueless attitude without concern in the world, were the things people tended to notice at simple sight of the boy. However the teenager was a box hiding tons of mysteries inside, one of the first enigmas to unravel was Yuuma not coming from this world, actually the albino was from the other side, the world feared and hated by the people of Mikado City, the Neighborhood.

Contrary of the citizens beliefs, the Neighborhood wasn't just one world but a compose set of various stars or worlds floating within the endless darkness of space, named "planet-nations" by Yugo Kuga, the late father of Yuuma. Yet those countries weren't just invading the bigger planets happily together, taking turns on who would trespass the barriers of earth just for fun. All the Neighbor nations were all tangled in a big Trion War with each other, and Midden (Earth) was the unlimited source of Trion.

With the war going on, pain, despair, hurt, hate and dead were common among the habitants of the floating nations. Their children were force to grow faster without a good childhood, some of them without the support of their parents and if the kids resulted to be Trigger users, they were enlisted and trained to assist the forces in the war.

Unfortunately Yuuma fitted perfectly inside the category.

Yuuma started to be trained at a young age under the tutelage of his father as both of them were Trion Users, both of them aided in the fights. Even so, father and son fought for a different cause than the military from the other nations, they fought for the protection of those who couldn't defend themselves, who were at the mercy of countries more powerful than them, only waiting to be slaughter. Despite participating in the war, both of them enjoyed their everyday life.

That was until Yuuma died

…or at least, was supposed to.

A mistake, a single mistake took for everything to go downhill. When they were assisting the country of his dad's friend, the fight wasn´t looking good and troopers were needed thanks to a mercenary killing the few Trion Users they had. Fearing for the safety of his only child, Yugo had order Yuuma to stay behind but it was like ordering a child to not eat the pastry in front of him, there was no need to say the kid had disobey the orders without thinking it twice. That had been the mistake that had cost his life, the mercenary had found him, wounded him and left him to die. As last resort Yugo had sacrificed himself to save his beloved son, restoring his body with the creation of a fake Trion body while creating a Black Trigger and sealing Yuuma's real body inside it.

It had saved his life, however it had turned Yuuma in a ticking time bomb. Living on borrowed time, waiting patiently for his real body to die along with his fake one.

Since then Yuuma had fought the pending war on his own for the past four years, until the attacked nation finally claimed victory. With the war won, the albino was left with no purpose in life, but thanks to Replica, Yuuma's chaperone, who suggested to accept his creator's proposal to go to Japan; the duo embarked on a journey to discover the planet Yugo talked so much about, the place where they would meet Osamu, Chika, Jin and the others.

Behind the goofy mask Yuuma carried around was the molded veteran he really was, a prodigy in combat. When it came to fighting, the human neighbor threw away his façade and the cold calculated fighter surfaced. Because Yuuma knew how harsh life could be, he lived every second of his limited time at his fullest and treasured every person close to his heart, meaning he would do everything in his power to guaranty their well-being.

"However, Osamu. No one is invincible and everyone can die no matter how strong they are, never forget it" The previous childish mood Yuuma showed was replaced by a serious gaze that could freeze anyone under the stare and Osamu was no exception. However, Yuuma held a soft spot for his friends and couldn´t be mad at them for so long, not that they had ever have a fight before; so when his carmesi eyes landed on his leader they softened a little but not enough to stop the effect of his scolding. "A simple mistake can decide your fate, therefore always keep your head in the battle and don't get distracted."

"…" Osamu didn't know how to respond at that, Yuuma had never been like that with him before but he guessed he deserved it. So the black haired boy would take those words as an advice, knowing very well they were the result of many years of experience. It still made Osamu sweat a bit "H-Hai! … I'm s-sorry"

"Mmm, just be careful next time, okay? Good thing we have Chika covering our backs… I told you she would be a good combatant" And again the preview mood of Yuuma gave a 180° turn, it made Osamu wonder if his teammate was bipolar with his constant change of moods.

"Yes, yes you did" The young strategist sweet dropped even more.

"Well, I guess that was the last of them, it seems we ended all the Trion Solders in the school." Declared Yuuma changing the topic right after a quick inspection to the institution.

"Hmm, it seems that way. I still can't believe just the three of us manage to stop an entire wave of Neighbors." Osamu stated with a mix of disbelieve and relieve. He let himself a moment of peace to relax his muscles and his whole aching body after the exhausting fight.

"Why not? Other squads have no problems exterminating hordes of enemies. So why are we different?" Asked Yuuma lightly insulted by his leader's words, even though he didn't showed it.

Oh, Osamu had said something wrong to cause a small reaction on his feisty friend, it wasn't noticeable but the hint was there. He shook his hands furiously as he tried to amend his preview statement. "Wha… No! ... I mean… I wasn't…" His mind was a tangled mess not letting him make a coherent word. Osamu had to stop right now if he didn't want make it worse while being in this mix-up state. He had to stop, rewind, clear his mind and start all over again. "It's not that I don't believe in you. Well, you can hold them off, that is obviously clear."

"Osamu-" Yuuma tried to intervene partly because he felt a little guilt for being the factor Osamu needed to break down. He had seen this situations many times before with solders from the other side, the short boy was sure he didn't want his friend going through that. However the intent was futile with his leader engrossed in his monologue.

"Chika too, can defend herself… But me? I'm in the border line of acceptable in Trion and physical ability, I can barely fight and stand to others. What good is that? You guys are the ones who always do all the fighting while I'm a hindrance to the squad…" Osamu continued to pour his mind to the outer world.

"Osamu-" Yuuma tried again a little stern this time and like the preview try, it didn't have any effect.

"… Always having to protect me. When we first met with the Bamster, when the 2 Marmods attacked the school, in the invasion with the Rabbit and the Aftokrator's Humanoid Neighbor. It was my fault Chika was turned into a Trion Cube and…and…a-and…" Osamu was a cascade of sweat by now, remembering all his mistakes made him feel useless and weak, it turned his throat dry especially every time he thought because of him Yuuma was alone. The black haired screwed his eyes shut while gritting his teeth and tightened his knuckles until they turned white under the glove at the scene reliving in his mind, one after another. "and..It…I-It…It was my fault Replica is gone!"

"Enough, Osamu!" The ace of Tamakoma-2 cut sharply at the rambling of his teammate. Yuuma hadn't intended to sound mad but he really didn't want to enter that point.

Luckily, this time it had the desired effect. Osamu snapped out the limbo of his head with loud gasp and he instantly opened his eyes, resembling a deer caught by headlights. All his body trembled at the exertion it took from his panic attack. He gave quickly small breaths so he could calm himself "I-I'm *gasp* s-sorry"

"It wasn't you talking." Said Yuuma, trying to appease his shivering friend. "Well, it looks like all the stress finally got you."

"A-Again, *pant* So-sorry … I got *pant* l-like tha-" But his constant apologize weren't necessary for his teammates.

"Stop. It happens to everyone sooner or later, even to the strongest solder" The albino tried to console his friend.

Yuuma had to admit comforting wasn't his forte, so he usually left his comical self to do the talking for him, it seemed to always work but he wasn't sure if it was the best thing right now. Personally it had never happened to him, not even after the passing of his father. The war was to blame, it had consumed all his time that it didn't let him mourn properly. Because of it, it had giving him false hope. A part of him still hoped for his father to return, that was why the human neighbor had come to Japan, aside of what Yugo had said.

"Right. I guess, I wasn't really recovered from the preview invasion. And now with this one, it only added more weight to the stress" Explained Osamu.

"That's all right, Osamu-kun. Everyone has their limits." Reassured a girl's voice coming from the auricular of his ear, and joining the conversation as if she was right next to each other. Which in reality, the owner's voice was but a few meters away watching patiently over them. "But Osamu-kun. You did protect me, if it hadn't been for you I would have been capture. So please don't think of yourself like that."

Yuuma agreed nodding comically and enthusiastically to support the girl's statement and giving it more weight and truth, since the voice could only do much in lifting his teammates confidence.

"Oh, Chika!" The strategist was startled by the intrusion of the sweet and tranquil voice. He wasn't going to lie, he had forgotten about their female teammate was present too, even if he had previously talked about her.

"You should believe more in your squad, believe more in you. We hadn't made you our leader in the first place if we hadn't trusted you." Declared the humanoid neighbor as he put an encouraging hand on his leader's shoulder.

"I agree with Yuuma-kun. We are a team and we support each other" Affirmed the youngest integrant of their team.

"Guys…" It moved him how his two best friends put such faith into him and not just them, faces of different individuals came pouring into his head and soon enough, he started to put names to the matching faces. Jin, Kyosuke, Shiori, Konami, Reiji, Jun, Tokeida, Kitora (in her strange uncaring way), director Shindo, director Shinoda, Yotaro and even Reijinmaru; all who had entrusted him their confidence and had made their best to change the terrible fate he was destined to have.

Slowly his visibility started to turn blurry with happy tears waiting anxiously to be left out. Osamu wished for everything to be always like this, to always feel this joy and happiness with the ones close to his heart.

Alright, now he was being stupid for becoming this cheesy in a time like this. Just look at him, wanting to cry in the middle of the fight, of all the times it had to be in the possible worst one. Osamu shook his head, dissipating the lingering feelings responsible for his mushy condition. The occasion for crying at the heart's content would eventually come, but right now the situation called for a determined leader who his squad could rely on and he definitely would be that leader. "Yes, you are right. We will give our all and do our best!" Their leader declared proudly.

"Hai!" "Alright!" agreed the squad without complain, happy to see their leader back to his former self.

Osamu once again took the role of the leader his squad members had conferred him with. It was time to turn serious again and so, he adjusted his glasses and as respected leader, started to give orders. "First thing first, we have to regroup before we head to the other parts of the city. Chika come back and met us down here."

"Hmm!" It was the las thing the violet eyed girl said before ending the communication.

"The sacrifice of Replica wasn't your fault" The voice had been not louder than a whisper however it was enough for Osamu to hear the words loud and clear "I ordered him to protect Chika and you and he carried with the command until the end. You shouldn't be feeling bad, instead honor him by respecting his wishes… That is what I do." Yuuma hadn't been facing his way so he didn't know the feelings his friend had but the boy with glasses was positive the face was stone cold as always when moments like this happened. Even the voice had been devoid of emotion but a subtle crack in the declaration had made Osamu reflect upon the truth about his friend.

The last statement was said as an afterthought, quiet enough not to be hear by anyone but the speaker. However with the short distance between squad members and the acute hearing Osamu possessed, he managed to overhear the personal confession without any problem. Those words despite being quite as a murmur, they had struck hard and deep into the older boy's heart.

' _Osamu, this is goodbye. Take care of Yuuma'_ Replica's farewell didn't ask for permission to invade Osamu's mind, the flashback came barging in after being confined in the farthest corner of the brain. The words of Yuuma and Replica ringed together intertwining themselves as he watched again and again the unwanted memory. The testament of the friendly Trion Solder, his dying wish, his last wish… wish! Of course! Since they met, Replica had conferred him with the only important thing for the friendly Trion Solder: Yuuma. The chaperon had even asked him to give a new purpose in life to his charge, when said boy had been left without any motivation to keep living.

Osamu owed it to Replica at least that much, so he decided to heed Yuuma's statement and make a promise to keep the impulsive humanoid neighbor out of trouble. Oh… in what mess has he gotten into now, controlling Yuuma is like trying to contain a child who has eaten all the candies from his Halloween bag, definitely not an easy job, not at all. But he had taken the vow, he wasn't a person to back down on his word, not now not ever.

For Osamu, his little episode had apparently lasted long endless minutes in his space of thoughts and yet, not even one had passed in real life. Even so, that minute had been enough for him to make up his mind, it had filled him with renew encouragement, one who he intended to transmit his (newly acquired) charge. Before Osamu could express the inspirational speech his brain had come up within the short time to animate the feisty boy, said boy decided to speak first.

"Yosh! Let's head to the next wave" This time Yuuma had turn to meet with his leader, showing his childish self once again. _'Well, there goes my motivational discourse'_ By now Osamu was getting used to the rapid change moods his friends went through, so it wasn't too surprising when the albino had acted as if what just transpired hadn't happened at all. Well, the boy with glasses was okay with that.

"Let's not rush it, Kuga." Osamu tried to appease his hyperactive friend. Still, there was something in his mind, twitching, nagging at him to be listened. He shifted his focus to his neighbor friend, wondering if he too thought the same. "Still, I wonder, who the one behind this sudden invasion is. You have more knowledge in this topic, Kuga. Do you have any idea?"

"Umm" The ace of the squad stroke his invisible beard in an effort of decipher the culprit, unfortunately there wasn't enough evidence to pinpoint who the perpetrator nation could be. He turned to his black-haired friend who was waiting patiently for an answer and just shook his head not able to give any real answer. "No, Sorry. The Trion Solders are the common type so, there is no way of specify the country and we didn't check the hologram of the Planet-nations to know who was near so it could attack."

Osamu deflated at the negative response he got. "I was afraid you were going to said that"

But another thing came to Yuuma's mind, the face of a certain elite agent who loved to act behind stage and the one to blame for his involvement with border. The short boy put his arm behind his head in a careless manner as he said. "Maybe Jin-san knows, you know with his Side Effect to look at the future"

"Probably" Osamu agreed with a quick nod, nevertheless they would only continue in the dark until, by a miracle (because an elite agent must be pretty busy in a conflict like this), they find Jin and confront him. "However this attack took us all by surprise. I'm not sure if even Border was prepare, after almost all the agents were at school."

Indeed, all had happened when agents had been attending their respective classes. The day had been a normal one, Osamu and Yuuma along with his classmates were in their classroom (probably not by their choice, some of them would rather be enjoying the perfect sunny day the world had to offer), being lecture by their teacher. Everything had transpire normally and boringly, complying with the monotonous itinerary of everyday. No one would have imagined that minutes later the institute would have transformed into a war zone surrounded by Trion Solders.

Suddenly the radiant sun had been swallowed by a sea of threatening dark clouds, making everybody wonder if it was an incoming storm but to everyone dismay it had been far worse. A deafening alarm had went off, the alarm that had alerted the brave young warriors it was show-time not too long ago, yet what made it different this time was that it hadn't been foreseen making them unable to plan ahead for a better ending.

At first no one moved, not even the Tamakoma agents, waiting hopefully for someone to come and said it was a prank. Unfortunately that hadn't been the case, when the deep-black portals like worm holes started to appear that's when everyone realized the shocking reality and so, chaos ensued. It took several minutes for our heroes to calm the stampede of frenetic students, but soon enough the student body were being evacuated under the supervision of the C-rank agents which consisted only in Chika's friend, Izuho Natsume an… interesting girl.

Of course the safety of the citizens was priority but some agents, merely Yuuma, was growing restless, craving for an energetic fight. When finally his desire was granted, Osamu, Yuuma and Chika suited up (which made the bystanders suspend the evacuation to cheer in excitement) and made their way to the battle field where a horde of Neighbors where waiting.

And so we arrived at the begging of this story, where our heroes were valiantly fighting for the protection of the student body from the waves of Trion Solders.

"Oi! Four eyes, Yuuma!" Shouted a voice from behind.

Both Borders agents turned at the source of the voice who turned out to be a young man, they would guess with 19 years old. The intruder wore baggy pants, combat boots, a plain white t-shirt covered by a blue border agent jacket that stated he was part of Tamakoma branch, same sector our young heroes were. He also possessed brown hair and piercing blue eyes, unmistakable characteristics for those who knew whom could only belonged to.

"Jin-san!" Exclaimed the one referred as 'four eyes'.

"Yo! We were just talking about you, Jin-san" Greeted the shorter of the two with a goofy smile.

"Ho… is that so?" Said the newly arrival as he made his way toward his two kouhais from the rooftops. Just like any border agent who appeared not to know there was a space on the ground called sidewalks that allow pedestrian to roam without trouble. "Worry not, the elite agent Jin Yuichi has arrived!" The self-proclaimed elite agent reassured, imitating the exact smile Yuuma held while messing with the (already messy) hair of his short protégé.

After watching scenes like this and the uncanny resemblance in attitude between the two, it made people wonder how those two weren't related. That maybe so, but that didn't stop Jin from taking in the little wandering soul under his wing. A little brother, a mini Jin, that was what the ex S-class agent saw in the human neighbor. In other hand, others shuddered at the simple thought of having two Jins roaming free, especially HQ.

In annoyance Osamu readjusted his glasses and closed his eyes to bare the moment. _'Seriously, sometimes I think I'm the adult here'_ "Actually" he started, thankfully stopping the pair from his antics and returning some seriousness in the matter at hand "We were wondering who the invaders could be this time. Certainly, is not Aftokrator again, like us they need time to recover, so that discards them. But besides said fact, we lack more information to deduce the culprit. Maybe you have some idea, Jin-san."

Time passed where nothing happened, not a single signal of recognition was giving by the older teen. Was he ignoring him or was he really thinking about it? Those were the things Osamu started to ponder at the lack of reaction. Who knew what happened inside that mind of the brunet? Certainly not Osamu who was begging to sweat drop.

"I can´t say that I have." Finally Jin spoke up which it only made the black haired boy sweat more in defeat at the common answer he was getting lately.

"How about your side effect? Does it tell you something?" Asked Yuuma. With his hair now free, he was trying, but failing to somehow appease his wild white locks.

"Like I said before, Yuuma. I can't predict the future of someone I haven't meet yet" Reminded Jin to his young pupil.

"Oh, right"

"But that is something your little heads shouldn't worry about, young ones. Leave the adults take care of that matter." The elite agent said as he restored his action of messing his two adorable kouhais' hair with renew vigor.

' _So much for that idea'_ At the end, nothing was solved they still were as they were at the begging. But somehow it irked Osamu, something was not right he could tell. He wanted to tell Jin but he would only demise it like before. Maybe this time it was easy as it seemed to be, maybe he was just worrying to much like people tended to tell him, he had to think positive and hope for it to be true.

Gradually increasing sound of fast footsteps and rapid pants were heard making their way toward the trio who didn´t even paid attention, immersed in their antics until a small voice called up to them. "Umm… Am I interrupting something?"

The sound of the delicate voice made them break apart from their playfulness, when the trio turned their mismatched eyes were met with a pair of innocent violet eyes peering curiously at them from a small young figure, a girl to be precise, with black short hair and an antenna that was probably one third of her stature. She, like the rest of her squad, wore the blue attire that showed a B-rank agent and a Tamakoma member. In her hands was the responsible for the demolishing ray that annihilated the Bamster, 'the Ibis', which was the same, if not bigger size than her. It was a wonder how the little girl managed to carry a weapon of such magnitude around battle.

"Ah, Chika-chan!" The recognition was instantaneous, not anyone could just pull the cuteness overload like Chika-chan could. With the arrival of a better and adorable target, the two boys were left forgotten, released from they (at least for the older of the two) torment. Nothing surprising when it came to Jin being… well… Jin, who was currently patting his youngest pupil affectionately while said girl just stood there awkwardly without complain.

Osamu couldn't help but heaved a sigh, something he found himself doing lately. With the corner of his eyes he took a peek at Yuuma just to see if, by any chance, he would say something about it. The boy with glasses didn't know why he thought about that as a possibility when he caught the albino's trademark goofy smile. "Jin-san, if you didn't come here to inform us about the attacking neighbor nation. Do you mind telling us the reason for being here?" Might as well put an end to this.

"Eh?" At least it worked for the brunet to regain his focus, maybe they would get to solve things after all. "Can't an elite agent come and check how his cute little kouhais are doing?" Or not.

"…Umm, we just ended the wave of enemies from the institution and the evacuation it's been taken care of." The strategist started to explain "We were about to move forward and aid the other squads with taking care of the other neighbors-"

"That won't be necessary" Osamu's explanation was cut short by the once playful but now serious voice. "Right now, evacuation is more important" Jin had stop his playful act, all severity returning to his posture and reflected in his eyes. With a stance like the one being display, the presents could only implied the worst.

"What?!" The statement had taken all three members by surprise. With another large-scale invasion like this one at a short time, they were sure Border would need all the help it could get. But to stop this soon. Was it really that bad to abandon hope now?

"Ah…No, no! Don't misunderstand me" After seeing the pale and shocked faces of his pupils, he knew he had hinted the wrong thing. And that was how the ex S-class agent found himself trying to amend the misinterpretation with hurried words and furious shake of hands. "What I meant was, with the basic kind of Trion Solders like Bamster and Marmod, the other squad had no problem in discarding them."

"But there were tons of Trion Solders in the city!" Exclaimed Osamu impressed at the effectiveness of the members of Border.

"Yes, there's still waves but nothing the rest of the agents can't handle" Jin reassured the boy.

The three allowed themselves to exhale a relieved sigh simultaneously. Their creative imagination had ran wild right after their senpai's statement, making them see the worst and weirdest outcomes. They certainly weren't happy with Jin right now but were more surprised when it was Chika, the quiet girl of their group who scolded their mayor. "Please Jin-san. Don't scare us like that. Try to speak more clearly next time."

"….Ah… S-Sorry, sorry!" Not even Jin knew how to react.

"If we are not going to the other parts of the city, then what should we do?" Asked Yuuma, a little disappointment for being denied the fun.

"Well you have the evacuation of this school going" Instructed Jin. "Stay here and help with the procession since it's one of the last places to be clear." That would keep them out of trouble for a while. Regardless, knowing their luck trouble would come to them for sure, not the other way around. He could only hope.

"Hai!" Tamakoma-2 agreed at the command, two more willing than the other.

"All right, I'll be going now. In times like this the elite agent can't afford to leave the battle. That's the life of an elite, what can I do?" Jin said. Seriously, this guy, a maniac would be the exact description of the crazy out-loud laughter he was giving.

' _How humble'_ The trio sweat dropped. A step back, maybe two… and a half, just to be sure and at a safely distance.

"I'm off, I'll be counting on you" Those might have been just words, however they held more weight, more meaning to Tamakoma's second squad. While they watched the retreating form of the young adult, growing smaller and smaller with each jump he took, their stances never faulted not even once. No matter what the entrusted task was, the new members would always do their best to accomplish it in hopes that one day they would make everyone of their senpais proud.

Little did they know that they mayors were already proud.

Especially Jin, his minors were growing with each challenge they took. He allowed himself one last glance and when he did, he couldn't be more overjoyed with the sight his three little pupils were giving. Seeing the trio together, standing side by side with each one of their posture radiating determination and their eyes, the tree set of eyes reflecting their inner willpower; it made Jin (secretly) rejoice of happiness, the only proof was the sincere smile escaping his features.

Even so, the moment was short lived as soon as the pair of turquoise eyes set on the small humanoid neighbor. The radiant smile that would melt any fangirls, vanished; now that a sour mood represented with a slight frown, replaced the previous one. Jin couldn't help but feel like he was abandoning his kouhais when they needed him the most, ridiculous he knew, especially with things going as smoothly as his side effect was telling him.

Regardless, the feeling kept nagging him, screaming at him everything was about to go downhill. However this time it wasn't for Four Eyes or Chika, no, they would be perfectly fine; instead the feeling was directed toward the young veteran who was quite capable of taking care of himself.

Right now he had to focus on the important issues to be concern by a simple feeling. So without faltering Jin made his way to the pending battlefield, hoping for the best that everything would transpire okay.

Little did he knew, that was the first mistake to be made that would mark the fate of their beloved neighbor kuohai.

* * *

 **A/N: Well that's that.**

 **First chapter. And the second to come hopefully soon but it takes me ages to write a chapter (with only this chapter, it took me all 3 seasons of Kuroko no Basket) and I have school too . So in advanced, sorry for the slow updates, I'll try to write them as fast as I can.**

 **Read and Review! KuroKapibara out!**


	2. Sightless

**A/N: Hi! KuroKapibara here!**

 **Happy Halloween!**

 **I know, I know. Sorry for the waiting, college really took my whole time. I had barely time for writing (it didn't help I got stuck at some points) and no matter how hard I try to make it short, I kept adding more and more things, saying much but not really progressing with the story. So that is my excuse... I did warn you, though!**

 **Actually this chapter was cut into two pieces, so this is what was Jin doing when everything happend and some** **deciphering from their part** **. In the next chapter we have more action I promise. So I hope you guys like it.**

 **Again, there are mistakes in grammar, hopefully not many. Feel free to point them out, so I can correct them and learn from them.**

 **Disclaimer: KuroKapibara does not own World Trigger, all credits goes to its creator Ashihara Daisuke.**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

 **Chapter 2: Sightless**

Mikado City a gate to another world opened one faithful day, invaders from another dimension known as the Neighbor poured through. The city knew true fear. The Neighbors' technology made them immune to most earth weapons. Most believed the fall of the city was a matter of time, but then a mysterious group drove off the invaders and delivered a massage: 'Leave the Neighbors to us, we have longed trained for this'.

They studied Neighbor technology and created an organization to defend the world for them. The Border Defense Agency, the group built a tremendous base in a very short time and prepared defenses against invader. For years later, though the gate was still open and the Neighbor still came through, most of the city's population had chosen to remain. Perhaps to their faith in Border, the regular explosions and flashes hardly even fazed the people living in Mikado City.

Half year later. Mikado city was exposed to the Neighbor's large-scale attack by the military nation, Aftokrator. The Trion Solders and the Humanoid Neighbors who manipulated the powerful black triggers came to invade. Standing up undaunted and bravely against the surge of unbeatable enemies were the border agents. Finally, the helm was steered towards their victory at the crossroads of fate at the cost of a great sacrifice.

Once again, not long after the recent invasion, another one has taken place. All agents, from A-rank, B-rank, C-rank, S-class and elite, were fighting hard throughout the city, repressing the incoming waves of enemies of all kinds. Will border be able to, once again, triumph in the presence of the Neighbor's menace? Even now when they were taken by surprised, even more when they were just recovering from the preview invasion? And what would be the prize to pay for this victory?

 **\- Sightless -**

A brown and bluish blur, only identified as a figure moving at high speed when paying close attention, made his way through the houses' rooftops of the residents from Mikado City. The figure was recognized as a male leaping from rooftops to rooftops at a speed that would make a professional athlete jealous. The figure's legs carried him steadily and gracefully without faltering as if they were moving on their own, always knowing where to step.

Ending the mystery behind the blur. The figure was a 19 year old young man, his name was Jin Yuichi. The male possessed a smooth delicate hazelnut hair, a pair of turquoise eyes that could look into one's soul, the perfect face adorned with the brightest radiant grin that could melt anyone on the spot, and the body any male could only dream to have. Those would be the exact words every single one of the female population from Mikado City would give if asked to find the perfect description for the teen. Not the female agents from Border of course, that would be more like annoying, cocky, the worst sexual harasser to ever exist… but those were the exception.

Jin was one of the first agents to join Border, one of a selected group to have the privilege of being the first to start using Trion and Triggers in order to protect their beloved city by from the clutches of the mysterious interlopers by making front to the first large-scale Neighbor invasion. The honor to wield the special power wasn't given to anyone, obviously or else the outcome would have been much more different; a certain degree of skillfulness was required, and who else than our favorite hero to have it. To say he was skilled was an understatement, not for anything he was made an elite agent or at least that what he claimed to be, no one had said otherwise.

To put it simple the hazelnut haired teen belonged inside the category of 'the best of the best'.

To anyone who admired him, the elite agent was all jokes and smiles but for the selected few who really knew him, those were nothing but facades. Even for them, Jin was a mystery, one that could take years of deciphering and only to be half way through. So they just rolled with whatever schemes he would come up with, which was most of the time since it was what he loved to do the most.

The elite agent belonged (and was proud to admit) to the 'neighbors can be good too, so let's be friends' faction, Tamakoma branch. Along with few others including our heroes from Tamakoma-2, Osamu, Yuuma and Chika, the fact that it was him the responsible for introducing the trio to Border, didn't matter. However, as an elite agent Jin still was an important member for the directors from 'Never forgive neighbors' and 'the town's peace is more important' factions besides his own and it was him who they would rely in case of great importance.

And certainly a third large-scale invasion counted as such.

Today was not a good day for Jin. Sudden Neighbor invasion aside, our lone hero had woken with a feeling of uneasiness that hadn't left his side since morning and with each passing hour the intensity grew more and more. Jin had started to develop a headache, a very irritating headache. Plus it didn't help his precious Side Effect wasn't working as it should be.

* _Replica's informative section_. Now 'Side Effect' is the term for extrasensory perception abilities manifested by rare individual with high Trion levels. A Side Effect is not a supernatural ability; rather, is an extension of a human ability. Example: Jin sees the future and Yuuma detects lies (Inherited from his late father). *

Jin had always been proud of his ability to see the future, it had helped him several times through hardships as he grew even before he knew about Neighbors, Trion, Triggers and Border. In spite of that, the brunet always thought of himself to be different from the others, an exclusion of society, and an outcast. Due to that, as a child, the boy constantly wondered how it would feel to fit with the rest of the population, to be one more of the bunch. If only he wasn't gifted with the Foresight ability.

He couldn't have been more wrong.

Now, Jin knew it felt as if a part had been ripped from him, as if what made him be himself was missing. As if he had entered a pitch dark room with nothing visible than mere centimeters away being aided by a faint light as his guide in the void of the unknown future. There was no need to say Jin didn't like it, not one bit.

His Side Effect hadn't told him anything about a sudden invasion. Everything had gone smoothly as it should be, promising to be a boring day with just one or two Trion Solders scouts here and there, nothing out of the ordinary. Jin himself had been chilling in his favorite spot, the highest roof of the colossal building sprouting from the core of the town, identified as the Border Agency; gazing protectively over the city like a silent vigilant (if it made him feel like the King of the World was a bonus). Enjoying the lack of premonitions for the first time, the lone hero had the opportunity to live the present at the moment.

That was, until a vision had struck Jin hard, nearly tumbling him down from the monumental building when the elite agent had only been standing on the edge of the agency. The sight had been what he certainly wasn't eager to see anytime soon, to be honest it was something he expected not to experience ever again. A stupid desire he knew, considering they were a crossfire victim in an interdimensional war.

Black portals upon black portals opened at the same time with no space between them, denying even the thinnest ray of light to come through. Nothing more nothing less was shown, however the black holes were something not easily someone could forget, and so, the comprehension was spontaneous. As fast as it came, it left, leaving a dumbfounded elite agent in its wake, questioning if what he had just witnessed had been real or not.

Unfortunately it was about to be real.

No more than seconds were given, barely sufficient time for Jin to assimilate the scene and with no second doubts the elite agent warned (more like shouted) HQ of the incoming event, before the wormholes started to appear just as predicted. Since then, the ex S-class agent along with all of Border's agents (no matter what rank they were) had been fighting non-stop the incoming waves of Trion Solders. But no matter how much unwavering will was poured into their combat, it felt as if they made no progress at all; where one otherworldly machine fell, other two took its place.

Surprisingly even the Elite Agent was starting to acknowledge what the feeling of exhaustion meant (if the Trion body ever let to feel such sensation) after annihilating the advanced machines for what seem to be an endless combat. Jin alone disposed of hordes of numerous Trion Solders, since he didn't belong to any current squad.

He acted alone like a lone wolf, all secretly and schemes that's how he was. Despite that, the ex S-class agent knew very well he could count with others, the ones he was proud to call 'friends'; they would not hesitate to help him no matter what were they were asked to do and for that Jin was deeply grateful. So there was no need to say the hazelnut haired boy would try his best to keep them alive, not safe, no, because Jin knew in order to achieve the goal an effort had to be made and sometimes it demanded some exertion from them which resulted in getting them hurt.

Even so, he still couldn't forgive himself no matter how many times he had asked for forgiveness, for the events involving Osamu and Chika with the Aftokrator incident. He could have prevented it, yet he did nothing. Jin had let them get mortally injured or captured, in the end it had been Replica sensei the one to sacrifice in order to guaranty their protection with the result of leaving behind a nanny-less neighbor boy in a world who loathed his kind.

When Jin had finally decided to come clean by confessing his sin at the Tamakoma-2 leader, it freed him from the heavy burden, leaving his already loaded shoulders. Even more, when Four Eyes had said 'I forgive you' (not in those exact words, more like 'You don't have to apologize to me', still the meaning was the same). Even so, Jin would find a way to make up to them.

So when the handsome brunet felt his quiet warning bells on the back of his mind pointing towards the direction of his beloved Kouhais, the rest of the world vanished, nothing else mattered than the assurance that nobody was threating their well-being. At first the young man had thought of the lingering feeling as a compensation for the failure of his extra sensorial ability in detecting the incoming threat, however the change of mind was instantaneous only when the feeling persisted.

Priority set in mind, Jin dashed making a bee line toward said trio's school. Like a bullet, he pressed forward, refusing to be stopped and if one enemy was stupidly brave enough to dare to block his path, the elite agent would cut his way through without any remorse until he reached his destination. Surprisingly (he guessed he shouldn't have been since his young pupils were members of Tamakoma and only the best joined the branch) the institute had been clear of all enemies within close perimeter. His turquoise eyes glided upon every single structure of the academy, distinguishing each of the Neighbors' carcasses lying forgotten on the vast schoolyard, remnants of a battle from not long ago.

Although the elite agent had found the Tamakoma-2 squad unharmed, he still couldn't let himself feel relaxed. With the increasing uneasiness still nagging at him, how could he? As a senpai, Jin wasn't about to let his cute little kouhais worry for something as a mere presentiment. Well, easy said than done when you were at the presence of a living lie-detector, fortunately the hazelnut haired teen knew how to dodge the infallible system: giving half-truths and acting as if nothing wrong was happening. It had appeared to work at the lack of signal of recognition from the small humanoid neighbor, but Jin knew better that it took more than that to delude the albino.

It was only a matter of time before he would run out of options, eventually getting him caught; being one of the reason for making their meeting brief aside from a packed agenda. Nevertheless, nothing on the face of earth would have made the young adult detain him for making sure his charges were out of trouble and with the objective dealt with perhaps the lingering feeling would finally abandon him.

No such luck.

If so, the silent warning was growing steadily stronger with each step he took away from them.

Currently Jin was leaping from rooftop to rooftop aimlessly, engaging Trion Solder after Trion Solder he encountered on the way. The ex S-class agent dared to say he was becoming rather… bored; with only Bamsters, Banders and Marmods, the challenge was hardly any. Jin craved for the emotion of a good fight he could enjoy, for an opponent worthy of his time, like Hyuse the abandoned Aftokrator Solder, even Tachikawa his rival was a good candidate right now. The brunet found himself heaving a sigh, he shouldn't complain it was not like this was just training, it was the real deal, it still represented danger for the citizens and as an elite agent, he had to act as such.

"Oi, Jin!" A voice shouted from not too far away with clear displeasure.

The angered voice managed to strip Jin from the deepest of his complex mind. His body, after years of experience, had learned to move by itself when the control panel was being overrun by appearances of wild thoughts, which had come really handy when visions were involved. Practice makes perfection but even the master made mistakes once in a while, or so he liked to believe because with the interruption of the intrusive voice made Jin lose the rhythm, almost sending him face first to the pavement. Fortunately, before it could pass to worse, the elite agent swiftly redirected his steps in order to correct his trajectory and land properly, avoiding an embarrassment that certainly his rival/friend would never forget. ' _Speaking of the devil'_

"Yo! Tachikawa, Kazama. To what do I owe this pleasure?"

"Where in the hell have you been?! We have been looking for you!" Exclaimed one of the new arrivals. Clearly not knowing what personal space meant, seeing as right after the taller brunet landed, he went straight face to face with his rival.

Kei Tachikawa, the leader of the number one A-rank agent belonging into Kido's faction (as well as Kazama) and the number one solo attacker also the rival of the elite agent. Jin might have been popular among the female population but Tachikawa was the one desired between the female from Border. The only one who could wear a black trench coat and carry two swords 'Kogetsu' and actually look rather handsome despite being over 20. Excellent at combat but lacked other qualities apart from fighting.

"I have been around. There is an invasion going on, if you haven't noticed. It's the job of an elite agent to deal with this sort of situations." Said Jin easily without succumbing to his rival's bad mood. Smirk in place to let the personal space invader know he wasn't affected, not even if the other was growling barely centimeters away from Jin's nose.

In comparison from the elite agent, Tachikawa did give into the taunt "Don't play with us. What the hell? Just yelling at HQ, shouting 'we are under attack' seconds before Neighbors start popping up and then you disappear!" The number one A-rank agent yelled at Jin's face with enough anger inside him, coming close to unsheathe both of his Kogetsus and clash with his adversary's scorpion.

Fortunately it didn't grow to anything major with the threat of Tachikawa, going no further than reaching the hilt of both of his deadly weapons. All thanks to the intervention of a calm and collected voice. "Calm down, Tachikawa. Fighting each other right now won't solve anything, especially in the middle of an invasion." Said the spiky black haired guy, placing a calming hand on his taller friend's shoulder while the other never loosened up the hold of his Scorpion, just in case the two children decided to solve their differences by force.

As a spell being casted by the motionless voice, the angered mood dissipated not in its entirety, just enough for the coal-eyed teen to cool down and start thinking logically. "Fine" conceded reluctantly the number one solo attacker as he slowly pulled apart from the close proximity, putting enough distance to be acceptable and not be considered as a doubt of their gender preference.

The tree agents held the weirdest friendship since their enrolment into Border Agency, but with the circumstances surrounding the Black Trigger of Jin's mentor: 'Fujin' their relationship shattered turning into one of jealousy and hatred between the two HQ agents and the one from Tamakoma Branch. The friction carried for a long time, until the incident with the clandestine fight for Yuuma's Black Trigger, leading to the resignation of the 'Fujin' over HQ. Giving his teacher's momento away solved the three years of hatred, restoring the odd friendship the top agents had.

Their dynamics were always the same. Between the spontaneous personality of Tachikawa and Jin's playful attitude, it was common to find the two minors at each other's throat. It was the job of older teen to scold both of the misbehaved kids, that's how Kazama found himself being the mediator of the two.

Jin allowed himself to heave a sigh of relief after regaining his personal space back, sending a grateful look towards the crimson eyed boy from behind his companion. However Kazama wasn't done. On contrary of Tachikawa's explosive attitude, the second solo attacker was more serene and tended to think before acting, no matter the circumstances.

"I think an explanation is in order or this time I won't restrain Tachikawa but aid him." The black haired boy might have looked calm and composed but with the statement, Jin knew the leader of the number three A-Rank Squad clearly wasn't thrilled by the events.

Two sets of determined eyes never left the elite agent's figure as if their stares alone would make him talk. Surprisingly, it worked however the explanation wasn't what the duo were expecting. "How can I explain it, if I don't even know it myself"

If it had been following his realistic outcome, the duo's response would have been more emphatic, somehow Jin's reality and the world's reality had a disagreement, and instead what he got was …"Ha! Yeah right. You think we are going to believe you with that Side Effect of yours. What do you take us for?" Exclaimed Tachikawa before adopting a mocking grin and fake voice clearly trying to imitate the ex S-class agent. "Aren't you the one always saying… 'My Side Effect told me so'"

Maybe, the young adult was too positive, it was more likely this reaction than the one he planned, sometimes thinking positive wasn't the best way. "That was supposed to be me? I'm flattered. I tend to leave such impression in the people that they soon start to imitate me. I didn't know you were one of my secret admires, Tachikawa." Joked the hazelnut haired teen, never letting an opportunity to tease his rival pass.

"Why, you…" Growled the coal-eyed boy.

And they were at it again. Seriously, it made Kazama wonder how the two got to be top agents with that childish attitude of theirs. He was starting to get annoyed by the antics of the two, even if his default face was obviously stating otherwise. "Then what is your Side Effect telling you? If what you are telling us is true."

"That's just it, it is not showing me anything" Explained Jin with a posture of total seriousness, contradictory of his former stance. Before his two companions decided to intervene, he continued; which he knew it was going to happen seeing as the second handsome brunet had opened his mouth surely to begin round 3. "And before you say something, Kei. No, I didn't know it was going to happen but merely seconds before they appeared, as if whoever is behind all this just decided to attack. Since then I haven't had any more visions"

"It _is_ odd." Concurred Kazama with a hum, adopting the typical thinking stance: one hand other the chin while the other supported the arm. "It appears that news travel fast between nations in the other side, but how much and what exactly do they know of us, is the question"

"The thing that bothers me, is their objective. What would they want this time?" Asked Jin, frustration expressed in his voice. He really hated not being able to see, it infuriated him to no end. But he wasn't sure why it was failing him when regardless of how many times he had wished even begged for this opportunity before, it was never granted. Until now that is. It made Jin click his tongue in annoyance.

"Whatever it is, they must really want it so bad if the neighbors are opting to take the strategy of an assured victory. Attacking when we are hardly in any condition to fight back and when we less expected it." Theorized Tachikawa, with his many wise years of personal experience talking. "Liked us, when we went to retrieve the Black Trigger, we acted when you never expected it…*sigh* I should have known better that you would have seen it" Why bother, if Jin could perfectly see through any of their plans when he wanted it. But Tachikawa would be lying if he said he had a fully developed strategy for the occasion. First of all, it had been a rushed assault preventing said action and second, he was more of the person to plan according the presented situation.

"You jeopardized the safety of one of my cute little kohais, I wasn't about to let that happen. I will always stand up for my family" It might have not appeared like anything serious, just another casual commentary thrown at the wind, and yet, the pair of turquoise eyes gazing unwavering at his long time rival, held the burning flame of determination.

It took minutes for the brunet to be able to break the intense staring contest, as soon as he did so he turned away acting as if it had meant nothing to him. Despite of how close friends the two were, Jin hold a mama bear instinct, turning him twice as dangerous when it came to his family. "Whatever, it wasn't like we were going to kill him, you know?" Said Tachikawa discarding the hidden threat.

"You might as well have, if you had taken his Black Trigger. I told you, it means more to Yuuma than it does for us."

Jin knew he couldn't blame the two, not just them but all Border too, since they didn't know the tragic story behind the feisty humanoid neighbor. The only ones in the vast world to know the harsh truth was Four Eyes and him, not even the members from Tamakoma, heck not even their own teammate Chika had knowledge of it. It wasn't his story to tell, if Yuuma wanted them to know, the albino would tell them someday, but for now the elite agent would keep his mouth shut.

"What harm could possibly be?" Retorted the leader of the number one A-class squad

' _If you only knew'_

With the little bickering over, it fell, once again, back into Kazama's hand to retake the matters at hand. "Not so much of a guaranteed victory if they are just relying on Marmods and Bamsters, we can easily defeat various waves without breaking into sweat."

As if trying to make a point, beacons of light in form of shooting stars adorned the sky for seconds, captivating the attention of the top agents and any bystander, before passing from sight into the colossal structure. Soon, another one joined the first one in the same path the former took, no later, another followed, then another and another and another, in what appeared for the spectators to be a rain of stars. However for the odd trio and those related to the Agency knew better than the radiant comet were minuscule particles of Trion dissipating from his core, which was nothing cosmic but a human from earth.

The phenomenon was actually a tactic developed for Border Triggers that allowed them to automatically return to base due to certain different circumstances allowing them scape the possible threat to their lives, called 'Bail Out'. Nothing reassuring came out of the event, knowing when this type of Trigger was usually used due to destruction of the Agent's Trion body. One or two in a definite time was normal, but the constant apparition of the fleeting solders activated a warning, causing them to have a bad feeling about it.

Turquoise eyes were the first to withdraw from the spectacle of lights, compared to the duo who were still looking fixedly at the show. With the world in constant movement, there was hardly any time to spend in contemplation of the minimal distraction, something Jin learned by heart. Fast paced thinking, many possibilities to consider and many to discard, the elite agent's brain never sized working, visions or not. If Jin allowed his mind to wander away, then each vision would only hindrance his sight, rendering him powerless when dealing in a fight. He couldn't let that happen, now, could he? That's why the Tamakoma agent merely observe the situation at hand for crucial intelligence that would aid him in further events.

With the fast inspection taken care of, the segment of hypothesize began. "Maybe so, but even that type of Trion Solder represents a challenge for the C-rank and some of the B-rank. Adding their seemly endless numbers, it increases the threat." Jin said, thinking at loud. The remaining pairs of eyes snapped out of trance and regained the attention at the current issue.

It didn't take long for the spiky haired boy to catch up with the flow of thoughts. "That's true, we might not get tired with the Trion bodies but there is still a determined amount of Trion inside each of us. If we keep fighting, those reserves would eventually run out, leaving us defenseless and forcing us to Bail Out." Kazama picked up where the other left off, comprehension of the neighbor's plan was starting to materialize in his neutral features.

The branch member assented at the older teen's speculations. "Exactly. Leaving less and less agents to protect the city. It's like they are removing the lesser threat, leaving the stronger ones to be dealt with." Jin was glad he had opted to let his friends to take part in the matter, slowly but surely they were making progress in unraveling the plan behind the invasion and earn some advantage over the intruders.

Still, it would have been easier and faster if his side effect was working properly. Yet, his comrades were doing their best to bring him out of his dejection by being the replacement of his missing six sense; an opportunity he would have never had if everything went as expected. In a way, our lone hero was glad it happened this way as he got to enjoy this tiny moment and maybe that was how faith wanted it, and everything would be ok. But the uneasy feeling would not have it.

"They have to run out of Trion Solders, eventually. I mean, they can keep this forever and that could be sooner than finishing every single Border agent. That's why I doubt that's all they have in their arsenal. They must be waiting for the right time to strike" The unusual quiet agent added his two cents. However they couldn't know how right Tachikawa was, not until…

Before the two members of the small group had the chance to replied, a frantic voice called, warning all the available combatants. "Portals have appeared simultaneously in various locations of the city! The monitors show the appearances of portals at the sites of highest people concentration and one at base!"

Not minutes passed since the alert was given, when all three heads snapped, making their mismatched eyes that were open big and wide in clear shock, stare at each other. They assumed the prediction that Tachikawa made was accurate but they never guessed it was to happen this soon. They had hit right on the spot, unfortunately the so advantage they believed to have was no more, it only proved the enemy was far ahead than they would ever be.

They weren't given time to react either, when another voice, this one more composed as it expressed the right way to operate in situations of this magnitude, learned in his many years of experience; came through the radio. "This is Arashiyama squad at the scene! What appeared to have come out of the portals were 3 altered Marmoids. However there are stronger than the average Marmoid, I would say as the same level, if not a little less than a Rabbit! Normal agents would not be able to take it down!"

It appeared that the information fell into deaf ears when nothing changed, not a single movement of recognition was made either by the trio or the Base. It continued in a form of stasis for more minutes before the senses decided to return to their respective owners, thus regaining the capability of movement at their free will and logical thinking, making them able to finally assessed the facts given by the number five A-rank squad.

As the triad of especial agents returned into focus, one by one, their dumbstruck faces were their greeters into the real world; not what you would expect to see from the best warriors. It had been a hard blow to their pride being outclassed by their minors, when they were supposed to be the role model to all the little agents. Abandoning his dumb posture, Jin opted to dismiss the embarrassment by giving an awkward laugh. "Leave it to Jun and his squad to handle the situation when the so called 'top agents' were staring stupidly at each other." Humored the young adult as he raised a hand to the back of his head, scratching the skin of his neck.

The second to follow only gave unnecessary coughs, acting as a way of composing himself while trying to erase the event ever happened. "Yeah, well. At least we know what we are dealing with, now. Let's not waste more time and head toward one of the location so we can start eliminating those mutant Marmoids" Said Tachikawa clearing his throat with the role of seriousness now back in his character.

As for Kazama, he had nothing to worry about, his lack of ability to display any emotion had saved him yet again. The spike haired man just had to cross his arms and close his eyes to obliviate the unwanted feeling, contrary to his companions who were overacting their casual behavior. "Wait for orders, Tachikawa. We just can't charge in, guns blazing. Beside we have The Base to attend too" Cold eyes fixated at the taller brunet with a slight frown in a way of scolding that would send chills to anyone at the receiving end. Not Tachikawa of course, he just scoffed and his personal caretaker.

As on cue, another transmission cut through their bickering. "Due to circumstances explained by Arashiyama squad, all A-class agents availablea are to engage the new type of Marmods to prevent any causalities. The remaining B-class agents will continue to dispose of the normal class. Proceed!"

"There are your orders, now let's go" Tachikawa waited enough for the communication to end but not enough to let his friends react when the number one solo attacker hopped into the roofs and headed toward the nearest portal.

Crimson eyes only got a fleeting glimpse of the black coat before disappearing into the path of rooftops. ' _Oh, he did just not do that! When all this is over, he would definitely get a piece of my mind'_ A dark aura accompanied the thoughts, gradually increasing at the formulation of different creative ways to shoved his mind into the coal-eyed man. However, it didn't last long when a calming hand rested upon his shoulder, the same maneuver he used toward his colleagues and with the equal effectiveness as well. His emotionless eyes focused on the remaining figure besides him who was the culprit of dissipating the malevolent thoughts plaguing the pale young teen's brain.

"Let HQ worry about their own problems. If things get worse, they have Director Shinoda to handle the situation, he alone is capable to do it." The elite agent told the shorter yet older teen. "Our priority are the civilians then we worry about others"

Jin watched as Kazama gave a small nod before, he too, made to follow the same path the previous combatant took. The elite agent couldn't help but to feel as if they were playing right into the enemy's schemes (if the enemy even had a one), nevertheless as he previously told the number two attacker, they couldn't let anything bad befall to the town's residents, that was the agency motto after all. If only they had had the sufficient time to unravel the whole plot. But it wasn't the best time to linger in the 'ifs', hopefully more opportunities would present as time pass by, but for now, it was the moment to act. With those thoughts in mind Jin pursued his friends toward the shared destination.

Unfortunately the solely opportunity to attempt to change the future was left behind and as soon as they made the first contact with the opponent, their path would be set and nothing they do would change the outcome.

 **\- To Be Continued -**

* * *

 **A/N:**

 **I have to thank you guys for the support you gave me by reading and liking this story. It makes me really happy. Thank you so much. Thanks to** **Attack-on-Levi-the-bae** **,** **Falouch64** **,** **Fryllabrille201** **,** **Ladynightwing58** **,** **LittleChomper** **,** **PinkSaphira** **,** **Zweiela77** **,** **bookworm120** **,** **dragonwolfcat** **,** **yaoiprincess101 for following the story. And** **Attack-on-Levi-the-bae** **,** **PinkSaphira** **,** **Zweiela77** **,** **yaoiprincess101, BreeTannerHuang for favorating the fic. It means a lot to me.**

 **Reviews**

 **° aRIEL: Sorry for the wait. And thanks for your compliment, i really appreciate it.**

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 **° Guest: Thanks. I hope you liked this one too.**

 **° chills10124: Oh Force! Thank you. I really love your stories, and I always can beraly wait for Tuesday to come so I can read anoher chapter. I'm a fan. I'm grateful for your support and compliments.**

 **I have a problem right now, since the new season of WT came out with new characters, I don't know if to include them. It changes things. But because it only has two episodes, I don't really know much about them. So what do you guys think? I know some are saying that, the anime has gone bad but I'm enjoying it, even though I hate Xeno. I really want Yuuma to kick him with a boost septa. But oh well...**

 **Criticism and Feedback is always welcome, feel free to comment.**

 **Well, that is all for now, folks. Kurokapibara out!**


	3. It was already too late

**A/N: Hi! KuroKapibara here!**

 **Yes, yes this is the top of the first page. No, you are not imagining it. This is actually an update! Yay!... I was actually planning on updating this on Friday and say I wasn't going to continue this as a joke, you know April 1st. But you guys hate me already I don't need more. So here it is!**

 **Yep, Jin again sorry, but I hope you guys will give it a try. I mean come on, you waited almost 5 months for this chapter, so please don't ignore my work. Also, a recommendation, you should probably read this story in several days because it's looong and I don't want you guys get bored or skip it. Besides I don't know when I'm going to update again. Fear not, I might take ages to update but I will not abandon it, I promise.**

 **Oh, and you will get to see my failed attempt with humor and fighting scenes. Just go with it please, I'm not a funny person.**

 **And wow guys, thanks for all your support. This is turning to be more that I expected, and it's all thanks to you!**

 **Disclaimer: KuroKapibara does not own World Trigger, all credits goes to its creator Ashihara Daisuke.**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

 **Chapter 3: It was already too late**

Mikado City a gate to another world opened one faithful day, invaders from another dimension known as the Neighbor poured through. The city knew true fear. The Neighbors' technology made them immune to most earth weapons. Most believed the fall of the city was a matter of time, but then a mysterious group drove off the invaders and delivered a massage: 'Leave the Neighbors to us, we have longed trained for this'.

They studied Neighbor technology and created an organization to defend the world for them. The Border Defense Agency, the group built a tremendous base in a very short time and prepared defenses against invader. For years later, though the gate was still open and the Neighbor still came through, most of the city's population had chosen to remain. Perhaps to their faith in Border, the regular explosions and flashes hardly even fazed the people living in Mikado City.

Half year later. Mikado city was exposed to the Neighbor's large-scale attack by the military nation, Aftokrator. The Trion Solders and the Humanoid Neighbors who manipulated the powerful black triggers came to invade. Standing up undaunted and bravely against the surge of unbeatable enemies were the border agents. Finally, the helm was steered towards their victory at the crossroads of fate at the cost of a great sacrifice.

Once again, not long after the recent invasion, another one has taken place. All agents, from A-rank, B-rank, C-rank, S-class and elite, were fighting hard throughout the city, repressing the incoming waves of enemies of all kinds. Will border be able to, once again, triumph in the presence of the Neighbor's menace? Even now when they were taken by surprised, even more when they were just recovering from the previous invasion? And what would be the prize to pay for this victory?

 **\- It was already too late. -**

"Urg! They are strong! We alone can't deal with this kind!" Said a young teenager wearing a pale yellow beanie that covered half of her face including her left eye, leaving her right dry green as the only source of vision. Minuscule strands of hair managed to escape the yarn imprisonment revealing a light brown color. Her green uniform showed she was a B-rank agent as it wasn't white and the insignia displayed her 19th position in the B-rank classification. Her name was Makoto Chano, from Chano Squad and as the squad name said, she was their captain.

Rapid gunshots were fired by her twin pistols from a distance, in the way a shooter was trained to maintain his enemy at bay. Said enemy was what appeared to be a crab, a big giant dangerous crab… or a scorpion, maybe? Built with releasable sharp blade in form a scythe on the loin, three in each side making a total of six razor sharp scythes along with high speed movement turned it into a fatal weapon; as if six hone blades didn't say deadly already. And let's not forget the neighbor trade mark, the eye inside the mouth it had instead of a face as well as its weak spot.

On contrary of its predecessor, this Trion Solders weren't just painted plain dull white; these types held a different gamma of colors like the specialized Ribbits. Those colors being black, brown and pink, if they possessed an especial ability as the previous countered Trion Soldiers, it was still unknown.

"What did you expect? Arashiyama-senpai said this type had the same strength as a Rabbit, we couldn't even deal with one back then!" Replied the second combatant of the squad. A messy black haired boy with black pupils, he too wore the same uniform as his leader. His name was Fujisawa Itsuki who was also releasing a wave of bullets of his own.

The squad leader never stopped shooting, if she even halted her rain of Trion Bullets just for seconds, well, Chano wasn't sure they would stand a chance if they had to fight them in a close combat, it didn't mean her ammunition was making any effect on the altered Trion Solders though. "I know, but we can't let them come any closer, if they do, I don't want to think what would happen. We are the only barrier separating the neighbors and the citizens, we can't give up now!"

Indeed, the colored Marmods were at least a few meters away from a large group of civilians, Men, women, and children who were in a state of panic. Trying to be controlled by the unfortunate C-rank agents, but most, if not all, the cadets were surpassed in size and only ended up being pushed with the mob as they tried to evacuate them to a safer place. And, like Chano had previously stated, the two B-rank combatants were the only line of defense separating the defenseless citizens from a certain dead.

Even if it wasn't a really good one, it was better than nothing.

"I don't know how much longer we can stand, my Trion reserves are running low, and it's only a meter of time before we have to Bail Out!" Informed Fujisawa when his bullets only ricocheted on the harden layer of the Neighbor Machine, like they had been doing since the enemy appeared. To tell the truth, the black haired boy couldn't imagine an outcome where the victorious end would be theirs. Not since their adversary was at the same category as the Trion Solder used to capture Trigger Users, especially when they were unsuccessful to deal with one back at the previous invasion, and now, now there were three. He didn't have to explain any further.

"Just, keep firing. It's only a matter of time before we get back up!" The squad leader tried to maintain the spirits of her teammate up, but she too was starting to lose hope. Chano cursed at their position by letting a sound from her throat. "Where is the help when you need it?"

It was only a matter of time before the fragile wall of protection which consisted of two teens, came crumbling down. Sooner or later a small mistake would be made, a mistake the enemy was patiently waiting so it would be used to his advantage. Sadly, it was sooner than later when the opportunity presented itself. It had only taken five second for Fujisawa to face backwards at the frighten crowd, assessing the evacuation procedure, when the opponent deemed right to take his chance.

"Fujisawa, behind you!"

The warning came too late.

At the moment everything became in slow motion. As soon as the addressed boy heard the announcement, his line of vision changed direction only to be intercepted by a glowing extraterrestrial eye, half way through. A pair of black irises locked eye contact with a single yellow orb for what appeared to be a prolonged time before it went back to normal, where the scene took no more than short seconds.

Before Fujisawa had time to feel threaten by the close proximity of the neighbor, the war machine strike. Unfolding one of his vast reserves of sharp blades, the brown neighbor took a strong swipe at the human boy. As fast as it had been, the gunner still managed to materialize a shield just in time for the knife to connect with it, shattering the form of protection in the process. Obviously the shield had taken a great part of the blow, however it had held such strength for the defense alone to absorb it all that the remaining energy sufficed to hurl Fijisawa at the near buildings, not more than centimeters away from the fleeting crowd.

"FUJISAWA!" Shouted the squad leader after his teammate.

Screams, wails, shrieks and cries left the mouths of the citizens when their evacuation was interrupted by the hard impact of one of their protectors, beside them. The townspeople immediately adopted the position of hands covering the head as they lower themselves in a way of protection, some even used their body as a human shield to shelter others. While the cadets took the position on the front line, mostly hesitant, and yet with weapons raised ready to go out in the battlefield if necessary.

When the cloud of dust dissipated, the victim was shown with half of his body embedded in the wall and luminous blue lines like cracks creeping from the impact zone, resembling the ones on the concrete. The black haired boy grunted at the tight position he found himself in, but overall he was fine, compared to what had been stored for him, this was nothing.

Seeing as his friend wasn't severely hurt, eased Chano's mind. Still, it didn't mean she was content with the result, oh no, she was far from that, she was furious after witnessing Fujisawa being swat like an annoying fly. Chano turned toward the culprit, hatred burning inside her. "Bastard! You will pay for that!"

And so, Chano launched herself to the skies and above the enemies, begging a new rain of Trion Bullets upon the Trion Solders. Despite the intensity of the attack, it made little effect on the target. It would take more time to eliminate it and seeing as there were three, it could take the whole day which the beanie girl knew she couldn't last. Gravity started to take its effect, dragging the combatant toward solid ground and when her feet made contact with the pavement, Chano didn't waste a second step when she was once again in the air firing a renew wave of luminescent bullets.

The process endured few more rounds where the ammunition came raining upon the colored neighbors, limiting their movements to none. Until the trigger was pulled and nothing came. "What?" More intents were made but the result continued to be the same, no bullets came at the command. " _I don't know how much longer we can stand. My Trion reserves are running low, it's only a meter of time before we have to Bail Out"_ The answer to her question was the statement her companion had made before. At the time, the squad leader hadn't taken it much importance, now she wished she had because if what he had said some minutes ago was the true, then… "Oh no, oh no, no no no!" Her panicked words were accompanied by the rapid clicking of the gun trigger as if trying to prove the theory wrong.

Oh yes. No matter how many times she denied it, it was true. Her Trion Source had been depleted and with it all her attacks, rendering her defenseless in the face of the deadly machines. And the altered Marmods knew it too. Chano could only gulp, now that her body was paralyzed when those extraterrestrial orbs simultaneously zeroed on her hovering form. That was it, she was done for.

The B-rank agent closed her eyes as the Marmod lifted its scythe high, waiting for the impact to come, and it came, hard. Contrary to Fujisawa, the captain didn't have any Trion left to form any kind of defense, so the strike was its full force and instead of impacting into a building, she went right through it… and two more.

And just like that, the wall of protection was no more.

With the two B-rank agents gone, it left the group of people from Mikado City exposed for the Trion Soldiers to prey on the easy targets. Well, there were the cadets but let's be sincere here, if the B-rank agents had a hard time dealing with those new types, then the C-rank agents didn't have the slightest chance. However that didn't stop them from trying, they might have been trembling like Chihuahuas, but their braveness couldn't be denied. Even so, it wasn't enough for the citizens to feel reassured at all; their lives were already passing through the front of their eyes.

On cue, the three multicolor Marmods advanced toward the panicked crowd, never slowing down. At the sight of the incoming machines, the group of people grew hysteric with each rapid step the three enemies took. They pushed each other, trying to put as much distance from the enemies as they could, however they soon reached the point where they couldn't back off any further when their escape route was blocked by the buildings. With no escape,it only rested for the end to come.

And they were getting closer and closer, shortening the distance between pray and predator. It only left for the townspeople to close their eyes as they resigned themselves to their fates,some of them with tears cascading down their cheeks, while others were even holding their loved ones tight so they could be together until the end. Any second now, they could hear the legs staving the hard concrete, growing gradually. Only a miracle could save them now, they prayed for a god, any god out there for any kind of miracle (since it wasn't the time to be picky) that would spare their lives.

But the time had run out.

The metallic roar signalized the arrival of the trio of neighbors and with it, the cries of despair increased. They could feel the enemies preparing themselves, spreading the numerous blades ready to slash easily through the flesh without mercy as if they were cutting a mere sheet of paper. The street of Mikado City would be tinted red, repeating the story of four years ago.

Not on their watch.

The sound of clashing weapons filled the scenario, passing over the frantic sobs of the people and into their ears. Definitely not the sound of a knife cutting through flesh everyone was expecting. At the unexpected foreign sound every single one of the curious looks turned toward the source of the resonance, eager to catch a glimpse of their savior. Forgetting for an instance their fears and with it, the tears halted.

From their point of view, their savior was no more than a silhouette, overshadowed by the sun with his coat flowing swiftly behind him in the imaginary wind and his weapons glowing brightly and powerful against the machine's deadly scythe. All in all, the scene was heroic in any way, inspiring awe at the bare sight of the event and filling every single citizen with the hope they once lost.

The odds had increased in their favor, now that it seemed the newcomer was at par with the powerful neighbor. And to demonstrate them that they couldn't be more right, a well-aimed kick from the part of the mysterious warrior sent the altered enemy crashing into the opposite buildings. Still it hadn't been enough to rendering it useless, it would be only a matter of time before the Trion Solder could start kicking again. But Tachikawa wouldn't want it any other way.

The combatant was starting to feel excited at the new challenge. It was rare for a strong type to appear, usually being common classes that with one blow sufficed to neutralize the invaders. Well, today Tachikawa got to have fun. Nevertheless his excitement was short lived when he felt stares stabbing his back, making him remember that he was not alone and he was here to save the civilians in the first place and not to play with the neighbor.

"O-Oi! Is everyone alright?" The newcomer whirled around, facing the astonished crowd who finally got a detailed view of their savior. And god was he a sight to behold.

When finally it dawned on the victims that their dead wouldn't come any time soon and they had been saved, the rivers of tears renewed their cascading path. However this time their meaning weren't from despair but from happiness at the second chance they were given.

"Thank you. Oh, thank you!"

"You have saved our lives, we are eternally grateful!"

"I thought I was going to die!"

"Mommy, mommy. I'm scared"

"Everything is alright now, this brave man has saved us."

"All hail our savior!"

Tachikawa couldn't do more than smile awkwardly at all the praise he was getting. Sure, he knew the popularity with the people came with the job of being a Border agent, especially the number one A-rank squad. Despite of that, Tachikawa couldn't help to feel a little overwhelmed by it, still it was nice to feel appreciated time to time. _'I wonder if they would keep cheering if they knew I forgot about them just seconds ago.' …_ No, they definitely wouldn't.

"Wait a minute. It wasn't just one, there were three!" Shouted someone from within the crowd

' _Ah_ , _I knew it had been too easy to be true'_ Tachikawa wanted to smack himself for forgetting the previous report where it was stated that there were, in fact, three altered Marmods that had come out from the portal. Some top agent he was.

His line of thoughts was cut short when a warning scream from the group of people made him aware of his surroundings. The coal-eyed boy didn't have to turn around to know what the commotion was about, still he was going to anyway if he wanted to deal with the two missing enemies. Tachikawa rotated to face the incoming threat, weapons already out and prepared for the incoming attack. He didn't consider himself cocky (not like some elite agent he knew) but he was confident that he could deal with them without any problem, he had dealt with Rabbits and Ilgars in auto-destruction mode before, who said these ones were different. Well, that was about to be seen.

Two Marmods appeared in his line of vision in their full attack-mode, as a way of intimidation toward their preys. If he had been someone else, like the cadets behind him who kept trembling uncontrollable, (the brunet was sure the little agents were on the verge of passing out) then he would have probably fled by now. But of course, he was not just someone else, he was no more and no less than Kei Tachikawa, the number one solo attacker,it would take way more than that to make him run with his tail between his legs.

So it was not a surprise when Tachikawa stood his ground, ready to confront the neighbors head on. His calculative gaze watching carefully, assessing his background for a good opportunity to strike since that was his way of doing things: Acting in the present; unlike a friend of his whom always lived in the future. And then, he saw his chance, just few more steps and he would make his move, just a few more… 5 more… 4 more… 3 more… NOW-"

Before his feet separated from the ground, two familiar figures like the ones he had left back at the clearing, appeared, intercepting the attacks that were clearly aimed at him. The force was obviously strong, being that, after blocking the assault, it managed to push both agents a few steps backwards. Still the combatants kept their position of holding them off.

"You didn't expect to have all the fun to yourself now, did you?" The one from the left said, never parting his gaze from his task at hand but his voice alone was enough for Tachikawa to know there was a playful grin plastered on the hazelnut haired teen's face.

The brunet couldn't help but to roll his eyes at the antics of his comrade. "I found them first, you know? Go and look for your own." Tachikawa said as he found himself returning the grin, even though the other couldn't see it.

"Someone wasn't taught how to share when he was a kid." Mocked the teen. "Besides, you already had your fun with yours." His rival made a move with his head toward the referred object and of course, the curiosity inside Tachikawa made him follow until his eyes set on an upside down black Marmod who was trying to reposition itself, only to fall back onto his loin. The image was really similar of an oversize cockroach struggling to stand; the simple comparison was amusing for the ace of the number one squad.

"Fine, you want that one, you can keep it. Pink is not my color anyway, I think I'll stay with the black one better."Conceded the young man when he took notice of the elite's opponent.

"It's not pink. It certainly holds a tone of coral."The ex S-class agent informed his ignorant friend, a little strained because he still was restricting an enemy that was insistent on reaching its target. "Know the difference, Tachikawa."

That was definitely not what Tachikawa was expecting to hear. He had to blink once, twice for his brain to process the reply and when it did he couldn't contain himself any longer, the number one solo attacker gave into a fit of laughter.

However the mood was short lived when a neutral voice made itself known after being left forgotten along with the rest of the crowd by his two companions. "Not the time for jokes, Jin. Focus on the matter at hand."The spiky haired boy scolded the youngest of the duo.

The teen just pouted "You are no fun, Kazama."

But the Elite was plainly ignored in favor of attending another issue that had been pending for a while now. Kazama had already reprimanded one, the other wasn't going to scape that easily. Without facing the addressed man he started. "Tachikawa…"

"… Eh? Err... Y-yes?" The number one solo attacker responded after he finally managed to control his burst of laughter. Man, his abdomen hurt, he could already feel abs forming (or accentuating) after a few seconds of laughter. This was way more effective than all those hours of relentless training, maybe he would start implementing this method instead of all those exhausting exercises.

"I'll deal with you after I'm done with this one."Came the response. This time his face turned a little to the side in order for a red crimson eye to make contact with the coal ones for the reason of making his threat more … threatening.

Tachikawa couldn't help but roll his eyes as a frustrated sigh escaped his lips "Can't you just let it go? Man, talk about holding a grudge."

All the while, the interaction left the forgotten citizens dumbfounded. Here they were, staring at the scene unfolding itself before the three heroes acted as if their lives hadn't been about to end just minutes ago and handling the situation as if it was a mocking spar with two practice dummies and not the deadly machines they really were, when the previous warriors couldn't even make any real damage.

It made the townsfolk wonder…How old were they? Nineteen, twenty, maybe the little one around seventeen. (Kazama felt a sting on his back, he had a feeling someone had mistook him for a teenager just now. Ignorants. He was an adult, twenty one was considered adulthood).The trio of agents were still relative young, well, young compared to the ages most from the group of people had. And yet, they had managed to make front at the powerful enemy as it was no big deal. Just… How strong were they?

Back with the three combatants, who were still oblivious of their charges,one integrant of the trio had had enough. Imitating the exact movement his tall companion made to stablish some distance between himself and the neighbor, the potent kick sent it flying and crashing right next to its black counterpart. And now that was dealt with, there count was two down and one more to go.

Jin could feel two penetrating stares on him, he didn't have to turn to know whom the belonged to or what they were saying. Even if they didn't voice it out loud, its meaning was clear: _what are you waiting for? Stop wasting time._ ' _Yeesh_ , s _o demanding'_ But the elite agent decided to keep it to himself, the least he needed was to have both of his companions reproaching him, so he decided that, for once, he would comply with the unspoken command. When…

Suddenly an image overlapped Jin's view of the Marmod in front of him.

 _ **Black replaced the bright pink from his vision, surrounded by purple flames which delimited and gave it form, thereby allowing the agent to distinguish the figure before him. However, the image was blurry, like a picture that was taken in motion, for him to be able to observe it more clearly. Still, he figured it was a humanoid silhouette, that much he could tell and yet he wasn't certain if it was human or not. He wasn't given more time to ponder any further, for the flames consumed everything leaving a pure blank space as its replacement. And then, out of nowhere, a deep red drop splattered all over the white canvas. Soon enough, more droplets followed one by one, staining the pristine white with crimson red until the previous color was no more.**_

And just like that, with the mantle of red, it all ended.

The forgotten pink returned to his line of vision, along with the different colors from the buildings and foliage that conformed the background. The ex S-class agent might not had had any idea of what all that show of colors was about or its meaning, but he sure knew what it had been: a vision.

A vision of the uncertain future that had yet to be set.

A future that had been unstable at first but was gradually gaining steadiness as time went by, and with the aid of the selected decisions, it was being leaded to be the imminent future.

It had barely passed a day without any predictions and yet, it had managed to take Jin by surprise, making him stumble a little to be overlook as a struggle with the enemy to any bystanders. But for the duo he called 'friends' and knew him 'well', it had been obvious something had happen for him to react that way. Not just anything could get a response from the enigma that was the elite.

And the enemy had perceived it too.

Taking advantage of the opportunity given by the unseen distraction, the Marmod took a swipe with one of his sharp claws at the opponent. If Jin hadn't been used to automatically act toward this kind of circumstances then the blow would have surely connected with its target full force and cut through him as simple as a katana cut… well, anything. Luckily, the hazelnut haired teen snapped back from the bizarre scene, just in time for him to dodge the incoming attack.

However, the Trion Soldier did not refrain itself for a single swing, when it had five more claws at his disposal. Five more strikes were thrown at Jin, strikes he swiftly evaded one after another, until the pink machine eventually ran out of blades for it to continue his assault. That was when the ex S-class agent took his turn to retaliate. _'You're all out. Good, now is my turn_.' With mighty strength, Jin launched the not-so-light war machine into the sky and with his two Scorpions, he sliced off all six blades clean off. The assault had been way faster than the fastest droid itself that said machine was disarmed before it realized it was now obsolete.

The elite agent didn't have the heart to break a family apart, he knew how important it was to everyone. That's why, when Jin was done, he sent the pink mutation back to be reunited with its siblings. And so, they three Trion Solders were together again, closer than they would have ever expected to be.

Soon, Jin returned back to the ground with a swift landing, he dusted his hands admiring his handiwork. The duo of the Marmod sibling weren't struggling for reposition themselves anymore, instead, the black and brown machines were wrestling to escape their pink imprisonment. _'Yep, that would have to do for now… But… Where have I seen them before?.'_ No matter, in time the answer would come. Sapphire eyes left the scene to focus on the sensation of being observed that never left him while all the fighting was going, two in particular.

And he was right. The stares from every single individual in the group of citizens and rookies were centered on him. Naturally they would be expressing confusion, after all that have been happening, they were beginning to reach their limit but that was to be expected. However, what caught Jin's eyes, were the two agents he had arrived with. Both combatants were eying him with accusatory expressions that betray their features. Yes, even Kazama.

"What's the matter, Jin" Kazama couldn't help but ask, curios at what made his composed partner lose his focus.

"What the heck happened?" Interrogated Tachikawa

' _So, they noticed'_ Jin really had hoped that his friend wouldn't have realized his slip up. He should have known better, those two were very perceptive, something rarely escaped them. Guess, it was his fault for befriending that kind of people. And now that he thought about it, he realized the ex S-class agent was surrounded by them. Simply in Tamakoma, with Kyosuke (he did caught him and confronted him when Jin had lied about the invasion), Reiji (No one could lie to that impeccably composed beefcake), Yuuma obviously, maybe Shiori, Four eyes was smart but to kind-hearted to believe in anyone, definitely _not_ Konami (poor girl, she was too gullible for her own good, it was fun to trick her though) and Chika-chan was too innocent. Still that was half of the division to be aware of, fortunately Jin was a master at what he did to always get his way. But enough wandering, he had someone speaking to him…

"You never react at anything" Continued Tachikawa with his accusation.

"Unless something took you by surprise…" the gears in Kazama´s mind commenced to turn as he started to theorize, sharing his line of thoughts with the outside world. "… and the only thing, even that is rare, that can do that i–"

"You had a vision, didn't you?" Tachikawa took the liberty to finish the spiky haired boy's rambling (that was the only thing the man's action could be called) and went straight to the point.

Jin was trying with all his might not to laugh at the situation Kei found himself in, not if he didn't want to redirect the older combatant's wrath towards him, when it was currently oriented at the taller teen after been rudely interrupted. Jin had to hand it to his rival, not anyone could be the target of that freezing glare and hold his composure, unless it was him of course. And yet, at a close inspection of the brunet, showed small trails of sweat following the path down the neck that betrayed him.

Back to the question asked. It was not like Jin didn't want or wasn't going to ever tell his friends, it was just that the vision had been so vague, merely in the process of forming itself, to (even for him) understand it. The hazelnut haired teen didn't want to get them worked up for something minimal as that. ' _You did say you were going to begin relaying on others._ ' Yeah, he had said it, curse the inner conscience. Jin didn't know what good he would gain out of this, though.

"Yes–"

"Well, what was it about?" Urged an impatient Tachikawa.

"If you just stop interrupting…." Retorted Jin a little annoyed by his rival's impatience before he continued his explanation. What explanation? He didn't know. "… um… how should I put it… I'm not actually sure myself but it wa–" Jin hadn't been able to proceed with the description any further when he was cut off yet again, but this time, the intrusion had been by a shout originated within the crowd that commenced a wave of cheers.

"That's Jin-san!"

"I can't believe it, it is him!"

"Jin-kun saved us!"

"Oh my god, oh my god! He is so close to me!"

"It's the best day of my life!"

The acclamations had all oddly been high pitched tones and not a single deep one was heard, indicating that all those cheering had been made by females. Oh no, that could only indicate one thing… one dreaded thing for Tachikawa and Kazama. Something horrible that they would definitely avoid at all cost, something far more awful than hordes of altered Marmods, Rabbits and Black Trigger humanoid neighbors users combined (they high ranked combatants would gladly take that as many times as necessary, rather to confront _them)_. The solely subject that could cause fright to any agent, no matter the rank, that just upon hearing the name sent chills up their spine, were the fearsome, abominable…

 _Fangirls._

The duo could only mentally groan at their predicament. They had been having a hard day as it was, the least they needed right now was to deal with lunatic hormone-driven teenagers. Besides, they couldn't, not even in a million years, know how to deal with them. Not even Kitora despite of how much she loved the attention (no matter how many time she denied it). The only one who held the power to control the untamable teenagers – and it pained them to say it – was Jin.

"Yo! The elite agent, Jin Yuichi, at your service!"The elite agent rotated in his place to face the acclamations. Since he was a kid, Jin was thought to always pay attention when spoken to and he wasn't going to start ignoring his teachings now. Especially when they were coming from all those adorable faces who in return were dreamily looking at him; that would be plainly rude. "Ho, what a beautiful and lovely ladies we have here." The elite complimented with his typical cocky expression.

"KYA!" It was all the group of fans needed for all women to burst into uncontainable squeals. And when they said all women, they meant it, since it was Jin who had robbed the hearts of every single lady from Mikado City. Kazama and Tachikawa could have sworn they saw hearts in each pair of eyes of the females from the group, let it be teens, adults, grannies; love didn't have an age.

A celestial being must have taken pity on the two unfortunate souls because at that moment a rumbling noise reached the ears of the whole audience. In an instance all the commotion died down while the three agents faced the source of the sound. Apparently, the colorful Marmods had finally managed to untangle themselves from their pile and were now reading themselves for the second round. ' _Well, if that is what they want, we will be happy to concede.'_

But first, to attend the reason of why they came here in the first place. Let's no repeat Tachikawa's mistake.

"Don't worry about those three horrible monsters, that furrowed expression doesn't suit those cute faces. Let me and my friends over there take care of them." Jin was quick to act on calming the crowd down before it could turn into a full stampede. His voice, despite being low, it had sufficed for it to break through the murmurs and into the auricle of the townspeople. "Instead, you can help us by staying safe. Continue with the evacuation, just follow the little agents and everything would be alright. Could you do that for me?"

There was no need to be asked twice. The fangirls nodded vigorously before proceeding to carry with the task, because … ' _omg!, Jin-kun was counting on them, they could never ever disappoint him and when this was over Jin-kun would come looking for them, declaring his eternal and undeniable love.'_ In conjunction with the thoughts, the fangirls gave their creative minds free rein to generate a wide diversity of fantasies of their lives with their beloved others could even see the aura of the overload happiness the fans were radiating, there was no need to say it was terrifying.

With those thoughts in mind the females hurried the rest of the crowd out of the battlefield. As they moved no one protested, no one complained, only those without self-preservation would be stupid enough to voice their displeasure. If that were to happen, then the pitiful soul would have met a terrible fate at the hands of the rabid fans,an amusing sight to witness for the bystanders, better them than oneself. For now, they abstained themselves to hurriedly follow orders and evacuate the place before it could escalate into something more serious.

Meanwhile the remaining two agents had ignored the previous scene in order to instruct the little cadets how to proceed with the movement. The newbies weren't listening in its totality, while a part of them was sure to engrave the instructions by heart, the other part though, couldn't help but fangirling hard for being addressed by two of the highest rank agents, a one life-time opportunity. They couldn't wait to tell the others cadets that Kei Tachikawa and Soya Kazama spoke to them, they surely would be the envy of the class.

Oblivious of the rookies' inner turmoil, the top duo finished giving the instructions and sent them on their way to fulfill their part. Kazama and Tachikawa observed as the cadets left, tumbling all their way to be reunited with the group of civilians, emanating the same matching aura the fangirls were giving. The duo could only shake their heads, today had been a weird day and they bet it could get even weirder.

"…Umm… E-excuse m-me…"A little trembling voice called up to the two agents. The squeaky voice had been but a whisper that if the top combatants hadn't been used to detect the most minimal sound (thanks to Kikuchihara and his Side Effect) then the warriors would have passed it as nothing but a murmur of the wind … or a ghost.

Discarding the two absurd possibilities, the HQ agents changed their sight toward the source of the susurration, only to come across to … no one. Strange, it had been undoubtedly a voice, guess they were wrong. However, before they could go back to whatever they were doing before, the little squeaky voice spoke once again but this time accompanied with a pull at the brunet's coat, to assure them that there was someone there and not their imagination playing tricks. "…u-uh… do-down here."

And so, they follow the voice's directions, landing their mismatched eyes on a small child with pale skin and black locks, who was nervously fidgeting with his two index fingers and observing the ground like it held the secrets of thousand mysteries. When the kid felt two burning gazes fixated on him, only then, his big eyes left the ground, revealing a pair of gray irises.

"Sorry little man, we kinda didn't see you there" Apologized Tachikawa with one hand scratching awkwardly the back of his neck.

Tachikawa lived for combat, for the shot of adrenaline that pumped through his veins in an intense fight. No social skills were required in a battle, so it was logical that the teenager wasn't a master in that department and taking care of brats certainly counted as one. Nevertheless, without having much from where to pick, just between him and Kazama, the number one solo attacker was a far better option of dealing with the kid than the perpetual-stone-cold-face young man.

Sure enough his assumptions were proven correct when the small boy changed the direction of his focus, from him toward the stoic crimson eyes. The effect was instantaneous, the small body of the kid paralyzed at the simple sight and with the child's instincts encouraging him to find a safe place which he found behind the tall teen. Although it was all in vain because those red bloody eyes never left the tiny frame.

Poor kid, he was visibly shaking now. Tachikawa turn to address his companion, because if he didn't do something and fast, the boy would surely pee his pants. "Cut it out, will you? You are just scaring the kid more than he already is."

"I'm not doing anything." the reply was the only reaction Kazama gave since his face remained the same.

"Will it kill you to make an expression from time to time?" Specified the younger combatant.

This time it did have a reaction, but Kazama being Kazama, it expressed the total opposite of what Tachikawa was referring. A frown manifested in the neutral features of the spiky haired man, indicating he wasn't amused with the suggestion, thus making him more frightening for the child and aggravating the situation. Tachikawa could only heave an exasperated sigh, he didn't know why he had expected a positive expression out of his companion; the only time he had seen the man crack a full smile was…. Well, never. And he supposed that a shaking child wasn't going to change that.

"Not what I had in mind…never mind." At least, he was going to be thoughtful toward the little boy's feelings and calm him the best way he could. Tachikawa crouched down next to the scared kid, as a way to appear less imposing and intimidating with the height of his and rested a supportive hand on top of the small bob-cut hair. "Just ignore him. My name is Kei and the one sulking in the back is Soya, nice to meet you." The brunet finalized his introduction with the most heart-warming smile he could muster.

And it seemed to be very effective.

The terrified kid found a courage he didn't know he possessed with a simple look at the coal-eyed agent. The little black haired boy couldn't help but give a timid small smile in return. "N-nice to meet you. My name is Ken"

The kind smile never vanished from the brunet's face. "That wasn't so bad, now was it?" Tachikawa wasn't sure if he was addressing himself or the kid, but seeing as how Ken acted, the child didn't have much interaction either, so it was going good for both of them. "Well Ken, was there something you wanted to tell us?"

"Yes … Y-you see… umm…" Ken started to say with the previous shyness attitude of his back in place, however a simple glance toward the brunet was enough to throw the insecurity out of the window and regain his new found confidence. It was such a cute sight of the boy as he clenched his tiny fists and gave a firm nod of resolution before he continued, it even managed to make Kazama forget his scary frowning face for a faint smile. "Hai!... umm… before you came, there were other two agents battling the monsters"

Jin, having finished his task, arrived just in time to hear the statement come out of the little boy's mouth. The trio shared gazes, clearly asking each other silently if, by any chance, one of them had spotted a solely hint of either of the two mysterious combatants. Knowing their current luck, the missing agents could have been right under their noses and they wouldn't even have noticed. When neither of the three made a sign of recognition, all eyes returned to the only source that could give them the answer they were looking for. Said source being the kid who in return was waiting expectantly for an input.

"Do you know what happened to them or where are they now?" Asked the tallest of the three since the kid and him had formed some kind of mutual trust with each other.

"Of course" The boy assented before he turned a little sideways and pointed at the building behind them "One crashed in those houses, I think she went through three or more."

The warriors couldn't help but flinch at the hole on the house's wall. Sure, their Trion Bodies exempted them from feeling any real pain, and yet they still could picture the scene perfectly in their minds all thanks to personal experience.

Then, Ken turned his back from them to face the fleeting crowd and pointed "And the other one is over there" In the mob? No, if so, then the agent would have spoken up long time ago. The trio observed past the citizens and onto the building's wall, spotting a form embedded on the wall, bluish cracks spreading from his body – his Trion body…and just then, the trio realized that they had found the second agent.

And who would have thought? They were right. The missing agents were on plain sight all the time and the 'top' agents didn't even noticed. Well, in their defense, the hole where the first combatant went through could have been mistaken for a deviant attack that collided with the building. And the second warrior was being obstructed from view by the thick crowd, it was like searching a needle in hay, something impossible to achieve. Surely those were pretty excusable reasons if you asked them. But of course, no one did.

"Huh, that's Fujisawa Itsuki from Chano squad" It didn't take long for Jin to recognize the fallen agent; with him knowing every single Border member no matter the charge, it didn't present much of a problem. From directors to janitors, from S-class, passing A-rank and to B-rank agents, he knew them all. The C-rank were the exception, though, since they came and went but as soon as they made it to the next stage then Jin would immediately learn their names.

… Also, it wasn't as if the uniform and his position weren't a dead giveaway.

"Then that leaves Makoto Chano as the one who went through the buildings." As always, it was Kazama who completed the line of thoughts.

"I kind of feel bad for them, they have really bad luck. Somehow, those two end up finding the hard neighbors…" No, that wasn't right. Now that Jin though about it, he had to rephrase his statement right "… Errr, no, it's the other way around, the neighbors find them first. They are like some kind of magnets for trouble…" Jin scratched his cheek with one of his finger. Now, that sounded familiar … Oh right!... "Just like my cute Kouhais!" Exclaimed the hazelnut haired teen, pride shining in the penetrating sapphire eyes, just like each time his young pupils were involved.

"That's nothing to be pride of." Deadpanned his humorless companion.

"Right" Tachikawa's attention left the crushed body in favor of addressing his little friend "Thanks for telling us, you are a big help, Ken."

The coal eyed teen didn't know what possessed him to start messing with the kid's neat black locks; he wasn't usually like this, that was more of Jin's behavior and yet his body went right ahead and did it. And oddly enough it felt right, like what a big brother would do in affection toward his little brother, he knew he just met the boy but something inside him made him feel that way. Now Tachikawa knew how Jin felt with those little kouhais of his and his obsession with protection.

"No problem. Glad I could help."Said Ken, who just stood without moving accepting the combatant's antics by giving a cute embarrassed smile.

"Ooooiiiii, keeennn!" The shout startled all three agents and the little boy, making them snap their heads toward the source. However, with the speed that could put the best agent to shame, it turned out to be nothing but a yellow blur was before it jumped and embraced with a tight grip ken's back, nearly sending both bodies colliding onto the hard asphalt and ripping the combatant's hand – which was left holding few strands of black hair- in the process. "IhavefinallyfoundyoudoyouknowhowworryIwas?IhavebeenlookingeverywhereforyousinceyousuddenlydisappearedandIcouldn'thelpbuttothinkwhatifsomethinghadhappenedtoyou?likebeingcrushedbythehumanstampedesinceyouaresmallandscrawnyandtheywouldn'tnoticeyouoryousuddenlyfindyourselfinfrontofthoseovergrownscorpionswhereyouwouldn'tstandachancetheywouldsendyouflyingwithoutanyeffortandyouwouldhaveendedupwhoknowswheredon'tscareyourbestfriendlikethateveragainkennevereverevereveragain!"

The two HQ agents and the one from Tamakoma could only stand there, dumfounded by the kid's – because it turned out to be a boy with dirty blond hair and huge rounded dark-golden eyes that wore a colorful attire with yellow as the basis color, clearly mirroring the child's hyperactive personality – ability to speak all sentences in one go without taking intermediaries breaths. A talent no one could muster, not even Midorikawa and his never ending energy and the trio went as far as to think that it might be a Side Effect.

While the combatants took their sweet time trying hard to put spaces in the long sentence the intruder gave and find any meaning to it, the pale boy had no problem understanding what his best friend had said. "I'm fine Hide. You know, all those are crazy probabilities your head comes up with won't happen."

"I can't help it! Youknowhowmycreativemindisonceitstartstoimaginecircumstancesthereisnostoppingit!" Said the new arrival referred as 'Hide'. His face was rubbing Ken's back affectionately glad that after his long arduous search, the blond had now the skinny boy in his arms and he would scratch and bite like a rabid dog whoever wanted to take his best pal away from him.

"Yeah, I know. But I didn't do it to scare you, I had to tell the agents about the other ones who first battle the neighbors" What impressed the trio of attackers even more was how this little scrawny boy was quite capable of understanding the jumbled words the hyperactive kid was saying, when the only thing they heard from their end was a bunch of tangled words competing to be the first to come out of the blonde's mouth.

It appeared that, knowing his friend was not in an unimaginable danger had calmed the golden eyed boy, for he now he spoke with a language the agents could comprehend. "Ahh, you mean the two guys that got their butt handed to them?" Asked Hide with his hands going into his short's pockets.

"That's not nice, Hide…." Ken reprimanded his friend with a stern voice. The blonde was honest to a fault that sometimes he blurted the truth without a care in the world if he hurt someone which usually resulted in school fights that landed him on detention. The solely thing Ken could do was correct the hyper boy and hope his words could penetrate that thick skull of his friend. "…and one was a girl." added Ken as an afterthought.

"But it's true!..." The boy exclaimed with an offended tone after being accused as a liar in his mind. However the sentiment didn't last long when the expression of his face was gradually morphing into one of surprise and disbelief. "Wahhh! Nuh-uhh, he was dressed like a boy, so he was a boy. If he was a girl then he would be wearing girl's clothes, you know shorts, skirts that kind of stuff. You need to get your eyes check, Ken. I knew your obsession with books would leave you blind." And with a stubborn pose the boy finalized his rant.

All the while Ken could only sight in resignation at his friend's childish behavior. Didn't he know, they were at the presence of three dangerous persons that could strike down any foe effortlessly? The least he wanted was to make them mad, although Ken knew the warriors would never lay a hand on him or his friend, they still were scary and that was enough for him. "Sorry for my friend, he tends to speak the first thing that comes into his mind without thinking it."

"Yeah, we kind of noticed. Don't worry about it, though. No harm done. Besides, you are just kids, that's how you are." Jin dismissed the apology. To tell the truth, he found the comment funny and it wasn't like it had been the first time and it wouldn't be the last time it would happen. It was a common mistake the people tended to make, even between the agents and the hazelnut haired teen would be lying if he said he hadn't committed the mistake himself.

"Thanks" Ken exhaled the breath he didn't know he was holding. "By the way, that's my best friend, his name is H-" But the pale kid didn't have a chance to finish the introduction, when the hyperactive boy was at it again.

"Hi! I'm Hide, nice to meet cha!" The blondie introduce himself, his hand waving fifteen times per second.

"Hi there. I'm Jin, that's Kei and the one with the perpetual scowl, is Soya." The elite took upon himself to introduce the present combatants, signalizing each one with their respective name, obviously earning an eye roll from the adult when his name was mentioned.

"Wow, you guys are like super heroes! It was so awesome! First the monsters were like 'RAW!' and then you were like 'Nu-Uh, not on our watch' and then both of you went 'CLASH, CLASH…" So caught in the excitement of his tale, the little child started to reenact each scene. From clawing and roaring to imitate the neighbors, to swinging his tiny hands and sending kicks in an attempt to impersonate the warriors. "… then mister acted weird, so the huge girly monster went 'RAW' again but mister avoided it like 'I´m s- mhmmmhmhmhm!"

Thankfully, the story telling was cut short when Ken, taking pity on their saviors, decided to put an end to their torture by jumping on his best friend's back and clasping both of his hands over the unstoppable mouth. It didn't have the desired effect since the mouth kept moving pronouncing muffled words, but at least it managed to lower the intensity.

A relived sigh escaped the mouth of all present combatants without their permission, however it was justified, for the three agents were beginning to feel overwhelm by the constant bombarding of rushed words and movements. Never in their lives had they felt so close to claustrophobia before, not even with the endless horde of neighbors from previous and recent battles. And then, this kid, with no more than 8 years old, came with nothing more than his charisma and made them feel vulnerable and expose like no one else had. To say that they weren't fond of it was an understatement.

"Thanks" All three offered theirwords of gratitude at the same time, nevertheless they weren't needed because Ken knew quite well what his innocent and charismatic friend was capable of. The timid boy had seen it happen many times to other people, however, it appeared that only he was immune to it. Therefore, the boy limited himself to give a knowing smile in response.

Suddenly, a metallic earn-splitting roar multiplied by three, filled the atmosphere the small group of citizens and agents were. As on cue, every single soul ceased their actions, the evacuation halted, the sounds vanished and only silence prevailed, all product of fear that entered their cores. Despite of that, the calm was never broken. One reason being that after two or three scares, it tended to lose its surprise factor and consequently its panic effect. That and the townspeople were kind of getting used to it by now, while the other was their total faith on their three guardian angels watching over them. Those certainly gave them enough reason to keep their composure and resume their movement, although with a quick pace than before.

Back at our heroes. The trio was positioned ready to defend: Kazama and Jin were standing at the front with their respective 'Scorpions' manifested and ready for action. While Tachikawa stayed in the back protecting their two little charges, however that didn't mean he was weaponless, on the contrary, both of his 'Kogetsus' were unsheathed and glowing threateningly as they always had.

"It looks like they want round 2" Stated Jin with eagerness explicit in his voice and expressed in his movements.

"Good, it was about were taking their sweet time in getting ready" The elite was not alone experiencing the sentiment, Tachikawa too was anxious to go in the battle field and put his developing rush of adrenaline of use. The number one solo attacker limited himself in rotating both of his blades as a sign that he was more than set to begin the unfinished encounter.

Both kids were left speechless at the scene before their eyes. It reminded them, with the uncanny resemblance, of those scenes from super heroes movies where the protagonists made heroics poses as they prepared themselves to deal with legion of enemies. Surely a dream come true to all little boys." C'mon, misters! Give it to them!" Of course, it ended up being the outgoing blond – that in their moment of awe, ken's hands had loosen a little bit allowing Hide's free speech to be return to him, although they still maintained the same position – the one who snapped the two enthusiastic warriors.

"Shhh! Not so loud, you'll distract them!" The harsh murmur drew all three pair of eyes to the culprits who interrupted their anticipated fun. What they found was kind of disturbing, one of their wards was in the process of asphyxiating the second ward, for how strong his pale hands were pressing each other over his supposedly best pal's mouth "You want them to fail and end up like the other two?!"

"Hey! hey! Easy there. It's no big deal." It was Tachikawa who was the nearest to them, the one to break formation in order to attend the fighting children. "C'mon now. It would take more than that to stop us, so cut it out." The coal eyed teen softly separated the two. After seeing the two, it made Tachikawa wonder if that was how his rival and him looked to everyone else when their usual exchange of opinions took place. If so, then the brunet felt sympathy for the man, no wonder Kazama thought of hanging with them twice.

"Don't worry, Kei-san. We weren't fighting, just having a friendly disagreement. " Ken reassured the tall combatant with an angelical shy smile that almost made the scolder loath himself for thinking this little and sweet child could commit such acts. However, it was quick to dissipate as soon as Tachikawa took a simple glance toward the young victim who was standing and conscious, yet swaying in a circular manner and still dazed for the lack of oxygen.

Clearly that was more than a 'friendly disagreement' but Tachikawa held his tongue, it wasn't the best time and place to dwell of something of such insignificance. What did matter right now, though, was to get the mismatched duo in a safer place because it was going to be anymore."Right… Look, we appreciate your help, Ken. You are a little brave man. But is time for you and your friend Hide to go back to the others. It's about to become a dangerous place for you two to be here any longer and I'm sure your parents are worry sick of where you guys have ran off to."

"Oh, okay. We don't want to be a burden you have to concern yourself while fighting. You have to have your head in the fight in all times. We get it." For an eight year old, Ken sure could understand better than most adults. And while others would react negatively at being considered a burden, the pale boy only held comprehension in those gray eyes of his. "Just be careful out there, okay?"

"You can count on that." Comforted the brunet, placing one palm on the boy's shoulder as to add more weight to his affirmation. Tachikawa was positive that after this little encounter, it basted to make an expert out of him, which he knew it wasn't something astonishing, but for the specialist in combat, it was an accomplishment to add other ability rather than just 'master in battle'.

It was all the boy needed for him to ease his mind. Giving one last nod, the pale kid grabbed his moribund friend by the collar and began their journey back toward the fleeting crowd. Not once did the combatant's coal eyes detached from the retreating forms until the two were no longer visible, swallowed by the mob. For now Tachikawa knew for certain they were safe, and he would make sure it continued that way.

"Not that this isn't heart whelming and all, but there are three deadly abnormal machines heading towards us." But for that to happen, the brunet had to face the roots of the problem. Thankfully Tachikawa had Jin to take care of knocking some senses into him, just as he would.

"Then I say we go and greet them." Tachikawa suggested as he stood beside his allies.

"I couldn't agree with you more." Concurred the attacker next to him. His characteristic glasses had been removed from their usual position on the teen's forehead, to occupy their rightful place.

The rivals were more than eager to start the fight, prove to that were their fidgeting fingers and their hands clenching and unclenching the handle of their respective weapons. And not just the upper extremities, the legs were also reacting by giving a little dance like the typical RPG game characters. If it were to compare the two then a dog waiting anxiously for the ball to be thrown would be the perfect example. Despite that, before the duo was allowed to even take a step, a voice called up to them.

"Not so fast"

They had already positioned themselves: knees bend and arms adhered to their sides with each of their Triggers firmly grasped, ready to confront the invaders when the unmistakable stoic voice dared to disrupt their concentration. The urge to voice their displeasure at the negation of said action was irresistible, yet they hold their tongues. As an alternative, the youngsters threw an exasperate look at the perpetrator who didn't even shown a single sign of remorse aside from his usual boring one.

Kazama wasn't fazed in the least by the intense murderous glances his companions we sending at him. On contrary, the older of the three found quite amusing the pouting faces of the two grown up children, so why end it so soon?. Of course none of what had transpired in the agent's mind was expressed into the outer world, so Kazama's passive face continued to be displayed and the effects were soon to manifest.

Both, Tachikawa and Jin's features were gaining intensity as seconds passed by and with each step the enemy took, reaching to the extent that the two impassive combatants were begging to tremble, grinding their teeth and sweating profusely. The simple sight of the faces the rivals were making was hilarious for the inner Kazama, their suffering was plainly visible and Kazama liked it, Kazama liked it very much. But soon enough all good things must come to an end, thus when the Marmods were some meters away that's when the spiky haired man decide to take pity in his friends.

"We still have the two fallen agents from Chano Squad to take care of." Kazama simply replied at the silent demand after what appeared to be hours.

"Huh?! Right now?! I don't know if you haven't noticed but we have three incoming Marmods, to concern ourselves with Chano and Fujisawa right now. Can't it wait _after_ we destroy the insects?" Of course Tachikawa being the most impatient and hasty of the three was quick and the only one to complain.

"No. If we don't do it now, we risk the possibility of the two getting caught in the crossfire and attaining even more damage" Kazama retorted.

"But then, that will activate their Bail Out mechanism and leave" Then again, Tachikawa (as the rest of them) was stubborn through the bones and it would take a lot of effort to make a point.

Jin could swore he could hear Kazama growl of how frustrated he was, well in his humble opinion the young adult deserved a taste of his own medicine. Regardless of what his senses of rightfulness were telling him, it would get them nowhere if the elite let them continue with their banter, guess it was his turn to be the civil one and sacrifice himself for the greater good. "Fine. I'll do it. Since mine doesn't present much of a treat, I believe you would be able to handle an extra charge."

"Then it's settle. Can we please fight now without interruption?" Well that was fast, and here the hazelnut haired teen was waiting for either of the two to feel remorse and offer an exchange of positions… _Allow me, Jin. No, Jin, I´ll do it. We can't deny your fun, I'll do it in your place..._ Yeah, right as if he didn't know his friends. Jin let a resigned sigh. And who was him to judge them? When the young combatant would have done exactly the same thing, Jin couldn't blame them that would be hypocritical from his part.

When the author of the question received his answered with silence from his companions, oblivious that the goggled-head was entranced in his thoughts and the vertical challenged man was murdering him with his glare; Tachikawa decided to take it in his favor, in which the answer was a 'yes' "How Kind… Kazama! Don't waste more time. Let´s go!"

Having given the command, the number one solo attacker departed from the reunion point to engage the incoming enemies, leaving crimson eyes with a fleeting glimpse of the black coat… well, dejavú. The brunet had actually dared to apply that move twice, that jerk. If Kazama was going to punish his so called 'ally' quickly and painless, well now it had escalated to a slowly and agonizing end. The pale man counted the second to chop some heads off.

With a dark aura but with an oddly resemblance of happiness, a really dark happiness, Kazama left the scene to follow his acquaintance.

Ah, those were his friends what could he say. Jin observed the retreating form of his small friend and his rival who was currently involved in a one-sided mocking battle with the three colorful Marmods, with a fond smile. Yep, they would be alright without the need for him to interfere, as the two HQ agents carried out their part of their plan.

And, of course the Tamakoma agent wasn't going to stay behind, however instead of imitating his companions actions and heading into the ring, the ex S-class agent took a step to the left and made a beeline towards the two agents who were desperately in need of his aid.

In an instant, Jin had made his plan. First, the teen would head for the girl, as she was the closest in danger of being squashed if the house were to crumble. It wasn't as if Makoto could die from the collapse of the rooftop, no, the occurrence would just finish completing the last requisite to trigger her Bail Out and send her to the safety of her quarters. However, the fact that the brunet girl didn't have a real body shouldn't matter, if instead had been a simple citizen, the act would have been considered as if Jin had left her to die and that was against his morals.

Also, it didn't help that another person with a perpetual fake body flashed through his mind.

Then, after securing the B-rank squad leader, Jin would procced to the next member of the team who was in less risk since the boy was near the last constituents of the evacuation group and the Trion Soldier would never get near them, his friend would make sure of that or at least the hazelnut haired teen hoped.

"Ah, Jin-san!" A well-known voice resounded inside the teen's inner ear with such magnitude that the lone hero could have sworn he had just went deaf or disable the function from his Trion Body from the right side.

"Arg, Usami. Not so loud, I can hear you loud and clear despite being in the middle of a fight. You know that." Jin half scolded, half whined, rubbing the side of his head where the communicator was situated.

"Sorry, sorry, Jin-san. I guess I got carried away, hehe." Even if it was just her voice, Jin could picture the operator giving awkward smile and a half bow with a hand behind her head. The handsome teen could only shake his head at the Four Eyed girl's antics.

"That's fine." Jin dismissed the unnecessary apology. Shiori will always be Shiori. To have her and her spontaneous personality as Tamakoma's Operator, resulted enjoyable and entertaining to no end. She earned her stay in the branch, fitting perfectly with the eh… 'original' (to give a better word) characters that formed the family, which resembled a puzzle assembled by pieces from diverse origins. Not with the ever dull squad she previously assisted; with them her always cheery voice ended upbeing wasted and ran the risk to be extinguished to match his teammates. Good thing the elite rescued her then, eh?... But now that he thought about it… "Oh, I haven't hear you since the beginning of the invasion"

"Ah, sorry again, Jin-san. I have being occupied to be in front the monitor. I hope you guys haven't had complications in my absence." The confession rang with oddity inside the attacker's mind. Something far more important than her supportive role? Surely he had heard wrong, the teen wouldn't doubt it, when he had his malfunctioning Side Effect as evidence. Usami was obsess with her job, it was declare as such when the seventeen-years-old would only dream, think and breathe every minute of her life about it, including her free times where Shiori had come up with different innovations of her own. So it was, without a doubt, a taken back witnessing her saying that something held a higher position than her passion.

However, no matter how valued her job was, it never presented rivalry when it came to Shiori's loved ones. Therefore Jin opted to ease the girl's mind rather than interrogate her any further. No doubt either of the Tamakoma agents could handle themselves quite well despite her absence, of course not implying that the combatants where without the need of their operator, on the contrary, Shiori was a vital part of their family. "I don't know about Reiji-san, Kyosuke and Konami, but I wouldn't worry, they are Border's best agents after all. And when I checked with Four Eyes, Yuuma and Chika-chan; they had finished eliminating the Neighbors from their school."

Jin had finally arrived at one out of his two destinations, the entrance of the first building of the row and by entrance he meant the hole of the size of the truck that occupied the entirety of the wall. By giving a whistle, Jin expressed his marvel for the situation in conjunction with many thoughts revolving in his mind. _'So, Makoto went through here and three more …or that's what Ken had said. I can only imagine the force the attack must have had for her to go all the way into the last house'_

"Ah, I´m glad." The relief expressed in the Operator was plainly distinguishable, followed by an unceremonious _Tum_ and _pluck._ No explanation was require for the actions behind the bizarre sounds, it was quite clear that the girl with glasses had allowed her body to collapse on the armchair and proceeded to smash her forehead on top of the expensive and high tech –may he add- keyboard.

All the while, Jin allowed himself to smirk at what was acknowledge as normal Usami behavior "So what was the hold up?" Asked the ex S-class agent as he assessed the depth of the crash.

His sapphire eyes glided through each detail, let it be big or small because when put together it gave form to a much wider image. And as a result, the prediction from the little boy had been confirmed correct. The evidence pointed that the young leader had passed through walls, windows, furniture and who knew what else. It was a wonder how that alone hadn't sufficed to activate her Escape Trigger.

"Oh right!" The question sufficed to perk the purple haired girl up, making her lift her head up which probably by now had an exact copy of the keyboard marked on her face. Not that she minded of course. "The boss asked me to check the hologram of the Planet Nations to identify the one who is attacking."

Jin, meanwhile, had approach the space where the teen had deduced the location of the female brunette should be. Until now, what he had managed to identify had been rubble, wherever he looked it was always the same, up – rubble, down – rubble, left – rubble, right – rubble and little sparks of blue that held an uncanny resemblance to what was Trion… Wait, what?...' _Oh, right…Found her!'_

"And?" Jin questioned as he proceeded to dig the fallen agent up.

"Well, we managed to deduce which Neighbor country is attacking us… Unfortunately is none of the previously mentioned by Replica-sensei." Shiori had maintained her usual cheerful self for a while now, however it all changed when she delivered the news the Operator had just discovered.

"So, you don't know the name or characteristics of the country" Not even bad news detained the lone hero from the rescue procedure, not when the buried girl had more than half of her body out of the rubble imprisonment. Just one or two more debris were the culprits of maintaining the girl's legs pinned underneath the surface.

"Sadly, no. We will have to wait for Yuuma-kun to fill the blank for us… assuming he knows." Bad news aside, the real motive for the decreased mood of the girl with glasses wasn't the revelation but knowing how important the unknown information was to the combatant.

' _Dammit!'_ Jin mentally cursed as he smashed his fist on the ground out of frustration. There was not point on saying it out loud when he perfectly acknowledged neither Usami nor Rindo were to be blamed. Simply Lady Luck wasn't on his side this time. A name, a mere name was what needed for his Side Effect to work properly and even that was denied to him.

"Roger. As soon as we finish in this side, I'll grab Yuuma and take him to headquarters." With Makoto free and securely fastened in the teen's firm arms, (what wouldn't the fangirls kill to be in her position, literally) Jin exited the collapsed buildings and set out the way back to what was left of the fleeting group. No more than 5 minutes were needed to complete the trajectory, that was of course if no inconvenience presented itself on the way.

"AAAAAAAHHHHHH!" He had spoken too soon.

Heeding the warning, Jin threw himself onto the concrete floor, mindful of his charge. His firm body made contact with the ground first as to not to bring any more damage to her already wrecked body currently residing in his arms. And let's say her weight wasn't proportional to her height, his body and lungs could vouch for that.

The elite agent waited and waited … and waited for the attack that would never come, he realized that now and slowly and eyelid was opened, revealing a bright sapphire eye scanning its surroundings. It appeared to be everything in place… so what-?

"They stole my Yashamaru series!"

One blink, then two blinks, three blinks and then he lost count for the rapid blinks he was giving. So the statement meant there had been no incoming enemy? _'Dammit, Usami. Don't scare me like that.'_ Now that the warning sign had ceased to fill the thinking space of his mind, Jin finally had a chance to process the words his mortified friend had expressed. "Uhh, your what? Does that have to explain something?"

"Ma, Jin-san! My Yashamaru series! Remember? I'm talking about my altered, colorful and fashionable Marmods!" The Operator's whined came through the auricular.

"Ah, so that's where." Murmured the agent. The first time his eye had landed on the mutated Trion Soldiers, he had found a sense of familiarity in the aforementioned enemies but no matter how hard Jin had the image fluttering in his mind he just couldn't put a finger on it. Now, diverse occasions from where he met the famous Marmods popped in his brain.

"Well, you know what they say: Bright minds think alike" Jin was sure this shouldn't be taken as a compliment, much less of something to be proud of, but of course the glint of the glasses and the wicked smile the combatant could envision that the operator was giving said otherwise. A shake of his head was all Jin could do to respond at the Four Eyed girl's antics, only she could spin the situation 180° to see the bright side of it.

With the misunderstanding cleared and out of the way, the rescuer didn't have anything left to do than retake his path. So without wasting more time he already had, Jin gently scooped the unconscious girl back into his arms and stood up, no time to dust his clothes off. Soon enough his feet started to move again in the direction his destination awaited, hopefully no other drawback would cross his way.

…Well, while it wasn't considered as a drawback, a nagging voice kept addressing him, keeping him company as the agent ran all the way back.

"Let me present them to you, Jin-san:

Taking what the voice of the girl said as a cue, Jin turned his head, replacing the sight of the remaining citizen fleeting, for the ongoing battle between two Border agents and three Neighbor Trion Soldiers. Immediately his pair of blue sapphire eyes were drawn by a duo of matching black figures fighting each other. How could he not, when those two were the most imposing from the five beings?

Naturally, the teen wasn't surprised when one of the two figures resulted to be his rival, he had after all, defeated the hazelnut haired teen many times in previous encounters, so he wasn't so concerned about him. What the ex S-class agent didn't know, was the enemy the older teen was dealing; sure it held the exoskeleton of a Marmod, but as Tamakoma's Operator had said before, those were altered Marmods, not normal but modified Trion Soldiers.

Sapphire orbs pursued the movements the Black Marmod was performing and the owner couldn't help to admit they were precise and deadly. Although it didn't appear like it, the machine didn't make unnecessary moves that shouldn't be made, the otherworldly weapon observed his adversary and valued his probabilities before it deemed suitable to land its mortal blow. Despite of that, it didn't bring a change of mind to the observer over his rival. Jin watched as Tachikawa parried the supposedly 'mortal blow' by holding one of his twin Kogetsus vertically while the other cut the blade clean off.

Yep, like the elite had said before: Tachikawa would be absolutely fine; no powerful strike could take the number one attacker and leader of the first A-class squad.

However, that couldn't be said for the other agents, though. While it didn't present much of a struggle to the older teen, the other combatants didn't possess the same skills the brunet did, thus making it more threatening to the other squads. Jin could only hope not many of this Marmods were dispatched all over the city.

"The sift slashes and sharp body, Yashamaru black!" Well, that description was certainly accurate considering what the hazelnut haired teen had just witnessed.

After finishing assessing one of the enemies, his gaze glided toward his next objective which had very familiar characteristics. Spiky black hair, pale like sick skin, crimson eyes and a weird designed uniform; were the traits sapphire eyes managed to get a glimpse of, before the owner vanished like he was never there to begin with. _' course he would use Chameleon to throw back his opponent'_ a very common move for Kazama.

Nevertheless, with the combatant missing, the teen took the opportunity to focus in the war machine his companion was battling.

On contrary of how the Neighbor siblings appeared to look identical (not counting the difference on gamma colors) at the naked eye, the three Marmods held slight differences between each other in their structure, thus granting them abilities the other didn't own.

Proof was: In comparison of his black counterpart, this altered Trion Soldier seemed to be sturdier and heavier with its body, making it difficult for the adversary to penetrate with ease the outside layer of the enemy but at the same time rendering it slow and clumsy; much like a Bamster, a very powerful Bamster. That was why it also meant that it could be taken down by using the same technic implemented on the Neighbor specialized in capture of civilian and extraction of Trion, which were either aiming for the weak spot or applying an extraordinary force that surpassed the hardness of its body.

And apparently, as Jin had witnessed, Kazama had opted to handle the situation with a little deviation by taking another approach. Speaking of which…

Oddly enough, in no moment the Trion Soldier had made an effort to search the absent combatant, as most of the opponent did when this happened, yes even the other agents from Border (Osamu could say it from experience). However, as previously said,the abnormal adversary had been the exception for it had remained completely still; well no, no completely. He saw that now. A single structure moved constantly, from one side to the other as if following an object in movement that wasn't visible. Said structure being the trade mark eye every Trion Soldier owned.

And it could only mean one thing. _'… Oh, it appears Kazama's vanishing act won't work this time'_

Indeed it hadn't. As Jin had recently discovered; with a body that hindrance the owner's movements, it was only fair for the Neighbor to have a perk to level his abilities. And by the looks of how the Trion Soldier acted, a better understanding of its surroundings was a good theory of what this ability could be, meaning he could spot the invisible man like he had never disappeared.

With a slower movement than his other two counterparts but with a mighty strength, the colorful Marmod took two swipes at the exact position the machine deduced the hidden teen was located. The blows held such magnitude that both blades were left embedded deep in the asphalt, nearly shredding the combatant in quarters. Fortunately, the young man had been in the process of making a move allowing him to avoid the blows.

Kazama, from his part was quite shocked since the Marmod had been capable of pinpointing his position, something no one had done so far (not counting Kikuchihara and his dog hearing.). But, he supposed it was his fault. He had been so confident that his technique was infallible that the second attacker hadn't thought once of the many possibilities to happen. It had turned him confident and now Kazama had to pay the prize by turning himself tangible again and blowing his cover.

"The popular with the ladies, Yashamaru Honey Brown!" That… that was definitely not what he expected. What he was expecting was something describing what capabilities the elite had seen the Marmod display, but then again, this was Usami he was talking about. Why did the operator have the single idea that a group of women would be thinking of forming a fan club over deadly machines? Was beyond him. Surely, not a single woman in her right mind would ever think of encountering a Neighbor, let alone getting close to one. Unless we were talking of the females from Border, of course; but they would destroy it at the pure sight of it before giving it time to even take a step into the new world.

Our hero had been so immerse in the battle between attackers and protectors, that he hadn't noticed his arrival at his second destination until he almost came face first with the wall or what he thought was the wall. His only explanation: his body had acted on his own and had taken the liberty to deliver him toward his goal once again. He wasn't complaining, though.

Soon, enough his vision regained focus to finally see who was in front of him and no, it hadn't been a wall but a teenage human being who was trapped in said structure. Great, now that Jin had gotten to the boy, he could start freeing the young agent and the sooner the elite did just that and secured him and his teammate the sooner he could return to his companions and help them… not that they needed him, though. So, without wasting anymore time Jin repositioned the girl, going unceremoniously from his arms to his shoulder like a potatoes sack, allowing the rescuer a bit more loose movement to stretch his hands and extract Fujisawa from his imprisonment.

Easier said than done.

It might have appeared as if Fujisawa was just scrapping the surface, but in reality he had been trusted deep into the building, deep enough for our hero to be able pull the teen in more than one go. Jin heaved a sight. This would definitely take more time that he had previously contemplated.

"Intrigued by Yashamaru Black but doesn't realize they are siblings separated at birth, Yashamaru Pink!" Called the joyful voice that never left the combatants side. Meanwhile, the elite just decided to abstain himself of commenting when it was most likely that nothing would have changed.

With the corner of his eye, Jin had a perfect view of the fight developing behind his back. Two black figures were still going at each other throats while a honey brown form was desperately trying to free itself from the pavement he had impaled, for a blue and black shape had commenced his way towards it with clearly no good intention in his acts seeing as how he held two glowing blades ready to strike. But no matter how furiously its intents were, not even a millimeter the blades moved from the ground.

However, before things could pass to worse (depending on which end we were talking about) a pink blur crashed itself into the other moving figure. The strength the blur possessed was enough to throw the pale figure good meters away from its doppelganger. Thankfully, not even the collision sufficed to make the man stumble; instead, he had repositioned himself in midair before landing flawlessly back to the ground.

It appeared that the pink enemy couldn't do anything more than to use its default speed to ram itself with its opponentone try after another. 'Try' being the key word since the target kept evading every attempt the other was making. Regardless, it represented no more of a problem than an obnoxious mosquito buzzing insistently in one's ear. Meaning, it would only take one swat to take care of the pink nuisance. Guess, they had to thank Jin for that.

Immediately, crimson eyes set to work, rummaging through the collapsed and still standing buildings in search for a certain cocky teenager who was currently occupying the center of his mind. It didn´t take long for his indifferent gaze to stop its search at the sight of a vivid light blue figure (unlike the obscure colors he or Tachikawa wore) in a background of gray. It was impossible to miss.

Currently, the teen seemed to be in quite of a struggle as he tried to haul free the young agent out of his prison, he pulled and pulled but his efforts were in vain, the captive teen wouldn't come off anytime soon. Kazama would have helped but it wasn't his problem, Jin had volunteered to rescue the two B-rank agents in the first place, the pale young man believed that he was old enough to find a way to solve his own problem. Besides, the hazelnut haired teen wasn't the one fighting two altered deadly machines, whatever Jin's problem was, the young man believed it was nothing compared to his own.

Finally, after what seemed like the elite was about to tore Fujisawa's arms off, the black haired teen decided to pop out from the tight place he was residing in, taking an ex S-class agent by surprise at the sudden change of resistance. An unconscious Makoto, a newly free Fujisawa and Jin were all sent falling down almost kissing the concrete, all thanks to the imbalance created at the lack of tension. Thankfully, the quick thinking Jin possessed allowed the rescuer to recompose himself before all three of them ended up sprawled on the floor.

Once Jin had regained his equilibrium, he looked around assessing the position he found himself in. The savior let out an exhausted sight. Things had turned a little more stressful than he had previously thought. No matter, it was over, now that he had the both agents secured, it only rested for him to find a safe place for the two so no more misfortune could befall the poor unfortunate souls. Jin quickly repositioned the shooters in each of his shoulders before he could do anything else.

Sensing a cold penetrating gaze observing his every move, the hazelnut haired teen turned around. Sapphire eyes were met with crimson ones for a split of second before the last broke the connection and headed back towards his pending fight. Although, the exchange might have lasted nothing but milliseconds, nevertheless for the always observant Jin, the message was crystal clear. ' _Heh, typical Kazama.'_

Ok, moving on. Where was he? Oh right! Finding a safe place for the unlucky duo. _'Now, where is a good place to place them?'_ Blue eyes scanned his surrounding in search of a fine place. _'Definitely somewhere no more trouble can follow…'_ but despite his scrutinizing search, when the top agent thought he had find the ideal spot, many images of possible futures where none were pleasant came barging into Jin's mind ' _By the looks of it, Tachikawa and Kazama will have to hold a little longer. I –'_

"Eh? I can't believe they started without us"

Came a voice with arrogance and boredom intertwined, not too far away from where he was standing. Personally, Jin knew diverse colleagues who had either one or the other qualities but only one among them had the combination of the two. And if he wasn't mistaken, then that meant…

The lone agent turned to face the owner of the voice and what he found was even greater than he had anticipated. Three figures were standing where the group of civilians had previously been. The first character was a teen (same as the other two) with seventeen years old. He had neck-length dirty blond hair and golden eyes, dressed in a blacklong coat with small lines of red, giving it a little badass flare to the outfit. Similar to the uniform his rival was currently wearing.

The second of the group was a tall sixteen year old that possessed chin-length brown hair pulled back and brown eyes. His uniform consisted in a navy blue shirt and ablack shrug jacket, with a cross running through the front of both his shirt and jacket. And last but not least, if Jin wasn't wrong, the voice that had spoken earlier belonged to a sixteen year old with messy blond shoulder-length brown hair and droopy black eyes. His clothes weren't any different from the second companion, in fact they held the same aspect till the smallest detail (not counting the size, though). Clearly, relating two of the new arrivals with the third A-squad leader who wore the exact outfit.

"Why did you bring me along?" A half question half whine escaped the dark blond teen's lips with clear displeasure at his presence in the current place. "I was having fun with Yoneya and Midorikawa. Heh, we were having a contest of who could destroy more Neighbors and so far I was winning. Until _you_ guys decided to ruin it. Maa! Now I can't show them who the best is!" His arms were just above his chin with both fists shut tight and frustration plain visible in his features, by the time the blondie ended his rant.

The tall teen next to the whining one could only let a resignation sigh."Izumi-san, you should take this more seriously, it is an invasion after all." He slightly scolded his elder. "And I brought us here because, as part of their squad, it's our responsibility to help our leaders"

"Ha? This is Tachikawa-san and Kazama-san we are talking about, the ones who could take hordes of Neighbors by themselves without a single gash on them! And you thought they would need our help?" The blond had given his back to the ongoing fights, not caring in the slightest if there were three deadly machines approximately a few meters away from them, in order to give his full attention to the tall brunette.

"A few extra hands had never done wrong to anyone" Tried to amend the sixteen year old. His hand had flown to the back of his neck, scratching the area awkwardly. "Sorry, Izumi-san. I suppose, I didn't think this through. "

"Nah, don't sweat it, Utagawa. Anyway, I'm here now, so…" The coat-wearing teen was quick to dismiss the apology with a wave of his hand, all his irritation now gone from his body. "Let's do what we came here to do."

And that was his que to enter.

Since the arrival of the three peculiar agents and their exchange of words, the trio had remained oblivious of the elite's presence some distance away. That didn't mean the other too, had been unaware of the teens presence. On the contrary, those vivid blue eyes had observed intently each action made in the interactions between agents. Arriving at the conclusion that they were exactly what he was looking for in the first place.

"Yo! Izumi, Utagawa, Kikuchihara! Just the agents I was looking for!"

Three heads snapped at the direction the call had come from and a duck faced Jin is what they came upon. None of the reactions at the sight of a certain cocky agent were the same, one addressing him with a small welcoming smile, other with acknowledgeable yet unsure nod, while the last remained his impassive self with duck lips. Either way, neither of the three faces reflected any emotion towards the two lumps hanging limply in each of the top agent's shoulder, whether because they ignored it or they simple overlooked the additions.

"Jin-san, you are here too. I assume they finally found you." The one with a kind smile, previously referred as Utagawa by the blonde teen, politely greeted the older agent.

"Your assumption is right."

"It surprises me you are here and not with those two over there destroying Trion Soldiers. It's so unlike you to not participate, especially in a big scale invasion." Stated the blonde named Izumi.

' _Oh believe me, I'm as eager to be out there fighting as much as you are'_ Jin mentally replied but of course he wouldn't openly admit that, no if he wanted to conserve his image. "Eh, I decided to set this one out. They are handling it pretty good without my help, wouldn't you agree?" Didn't mean the ex S-class hero wasn't itching to go out there and pulverize some multicolored otherworldly crabs.

With a quick inspection from new arrivals' part, they could confirm that indeed the enemies were being handled without the minimum of a problem. As expected from their leaders. The trio observed their aces move with gracefulness through the battle field as if the two were performing a complicated dance routine with their respected enemy. Truly inspiring to anyone who got to behold the battle.

"It seems that way." It had been Utagawa who spoke for his two companions, his attitude remaining calm and passive at their unneeded assistance.

But that couldn't be said for the blonde, though. His irritation was far too much to keep it contain it any longer. "Then why the hell are we here?!"Exploded Izumi, shouting at the four winds.

"Don't shout, Izumi-san. You will only distract them. That's what you want?" The tall brunet might had been kind and calm but those qualities were easily exchanged for a harden attitude if it meant to keep the others in line.

"As if that would affect them"

"Easy now. Not everything has been for naught." Thankfully, Jin was present and decided to step in before the bickering started; since he knew it couldn't pass to anything mayor, their mutual respect for each other wouldn't allow it. Still bickering children was tiresome to deal with, he should know he was one too."I have a mission especially for you three."

"You mean, something you don't want to do and passing it down to us." Spoke a voice forgotten to the presents for his lack of contribution in the dialogue. However his shortage of words was common of him, so it was easy to forget him; and when he _did_ speak only witty comments escaped his mouth.

No comment there because it was true, it was an old habit of his. God would only know how many packages of his delicious rice crackers he had lost to Amo. His addiction was the only thing accepted by the odd agent as a bribe or sacrifice (as Jin liked to call it) when the lone agent wanted the S-class to cover for him. So that's why the hazelnut haired teen decided to ignore the comment, unfortunately it only served to prove the statement made by the droopy eyes agent, true. "Like I was saying, I have a task for you. See this two sleeping beauties resting on my shoulders?" To emphasize his point, Jin moved up and down his shoulder and with them the limp agents. "Well, your job is to make sure they are return to their waiting teammate back at HQ safely."

"Huh? But that's being a babysitter." That was also true. Man, today he was lacking his touch; it had been two times in a row that Kikuchihara had seen his real motives. Or maybe, it had been Kikuchihara just being Kikuchihara throwing witty comments at the air. Yep, definitely.

"Well, if you want to look it that way…" Not that Jin was insinuating anything.

But whatever snappy comeback had been thrown at him, was lost in midway when the sound failed to reach Jin's ear for the persistent voice had decided to make itself known with her usual booming self. "Wait! Where is the crushing power and armor, Yashamura Gold?!"and leaving him deaf once again.

"Usami~" a half whimpered, half whined was heard coming from older teenager. The shriek had left his ear where his communicator was, with an annoying buzzing and instinctively reached to rub the sound away. Still with his hand in middle massage was when Jin finally grasped the message shouted at him "What? You mean to tell me there are more?!" Now it was him who was shouting.

"If they are the exact same models as the Yashamaru series, then yes! One is missing and the strongest one at that!"

"Just our luck" Jin deadpanned, not letting himself being impress anymore.

Nevertheless, the fact that one additional altered Marmod was missing, was worrisome. Usami had said that it had yet to appear, referring not only this conglomeration but around the town in general. It could only make Jin wonder about the strategy of the enemy he wasn't able to see. Right now, the elite was truly lucky that both Usami's inventions and the new toys the enemy held, shared the exact same characteristics. He didn't know how that was possible but somehow in this world it was, Jin wasn't about to complain, though.

So, if it was indeed true and the Yashamaru gold was the one absent of the four then when would the enemy deem the ideal time to send it? At least it gave him time to alert the rest of the agents who were engaged with another batch, to not claim victory just yet, not with the possible appearance of a fourth member of the Colorful Marmod family. No doubt Usami would think the same _('Great minds think alike'_ As she had said) and alert the operators and directors back at HQ, if she hadn't already.

Of course, fate must have had a grudge against him because when had everything gone according to his plans (not that he had any) on this day?

" _ **Warning, warning. A gate is opening in the area, please evacuate immediately. I repeat, a gate is opening, please evacuate immediately." No sooner the alarm went off, a pitch black circular void materialized out of nowhere right in the middle of the battlefield. Giving a temporary unwanted break as it divided the two sides of the enemies apart. The two agents jumped out of the way just as a black dot with black lightning coming from it, commenced to manifest or else they would get suck in the portal and end up who-knows-where in the Neighborhood, if the neighbor coming out of the void didn't squashed them first.**_

 _ **Coal black eyes meet crimson ones in a silent understanding for brief second before they went back to face whatever threat may come through the gate, positioned at the ready if take action was needed. Fortunately, they didn't have to wait for long. Right after the portal reached its desired size, a Marmod much like the others three, same exosqueleton, same killing spree behavior popped out of the portal into the new world. However this altered Trion Soldier shone brilliantly in a metallic golden color.**_

 _ **And with a powerful lunge his vision faded to black.**_

"Aaand there it is."

The other three had paused their ongoing activities, in favor to give confused stares toward the elite after they heard the raise of voice. Clearly, the trio was intrigued by this behavior and expecting an answer. "Something the matter?" Despite that, the kind hearted Utagawa was the one of the three to be concerned for his senior, a small rise of eyebrows was the indication of said feeling.

"Nothing you should worry about" Jin was quick to dismiss. Not that he didn't appreciate the feeling, because he did, really. However, if he told trio the truth, the hazelnut haired teen risked his chance of having his fun whisked away, knowing very well the A-class agents would jump at any opportunity to get in the battlefield. Nope, Jin had been away from the action far too long for his liking, it was time get back in. Besides, now that he was no longer an S-class agent, he competed with the other agents to reach the top and to win he needed points and said points didn't win themselves.

"As if! You clearly had something going on, or you are telling me you decided to yell at yourself? Don't think so" Of course not all were as compressive (or gullible?) as Utagawa, god bless his soul. So, it was logic that Izumi wouldn't believe him at all, given his habits, who would?

"WARNING, WARNING. A GATE IS OPENING IN THE AREA, PLEASE EVACUATE IMMEDIATELY. I REPEAT, A GATE IS OPENING, PLEASE EVACUATE IMMEDIATELY."

Luckily for the lone hero, a different kind of distraction had saved him, yet again, from giving more excuses that will eventually run out and getting more retorts from these brats that didn't have any respect for his elders. Therefore, without waiting for his companions in front of him to finish assimilating the warning, Jin proceeded to make his move.

"That's my que. Oh, but first…" the hazelnut haired teen closed the gap separating the small HQ group and the Tamakoma agent, halting scarce millimeters from invading personal space. He wasn't Tachikawa, unlike his rival; _he_ knew to respect others' private space. Carefully and at the same time with short rapid moves, the unconscious agents passed from being on Jin's shoulders into the blonde and small brunet's custody. "… here are your charges, you know what to do." Not a single complain was voiced (yet), complete reasoning not fully available for the teens for now. Taking advantage of the situation, Jin turned around and ran. Just as the elite distance himself, he called back."Take good care of them!"

"…"

"…"

"…"

Three pair of eyes followed the same path: the matching green agents resting in Izumi and Kikuchihara's arms, then locking uplocking gazes with each other, to finally shift towards the retreating form growing distant, not quite yet gone but out of their reach. The process was repeated a few more times before it finally clicked for the agents.

"Hey! Hey! Come back here! We are not done yet! Don't leave us with your task!" Shouted the shooter, that if it hadn't been for the beanie-waring-girl in his arms, the blonde would have had his arm raised in clear displeasure, like a grandpa cursing at the youngsters.

"I guess it can't be helped."

Meanwhile, the escapist, in a short time, had covered a considerable distance toward his destination. Enough to behold the fourth and hopefully last sibling arrive on Midden ground, shining bright in all its glory. Now he could see the bone crushing power and armor in that gleaming body of his, by now Jin could tell it would be a pain to take it down. Then good thing it was him who would have the honor to do it.

The Tamakoma agent arrived just in time to witness the part where his two comrades held stares in mutual understanding, before adopting a fighting stance, as previously predicted in his vision. And considering the timeline was following that path, Jin would be prepared for the next move. Which was about to happen … right…

 _NOW!_

The golden Marmod pounced, impulse with the raw strength of its legs, in the direction of the duo. But of course that exact move was what Jin was waiting. The metallic figure didn't even had the chance to grace the agents' tips of hair, for a brown and blueish blur intercepted his assault. And there stood the culprit, blades against blades struggling for dominance against the Trion Soldier.

"Concentrate in yours. I'll deal with this one!" The intruder reassured, concentration fully directed at the issue at hand, yet he still graced their presencewith his playful trademark smirk.

However, his friends weren't in the slightest amused by his comrade's antics. "What happened to Makoto squad?" Countered the young adult. His unemotional eyes fixated in the agent barely meters away, as if was eating away all his surroundings until the gaze penetrated to the core.

Jin semi-turned, exposing one sapphire eye and half of his grin "Ehh. It's been taken care of…"But as soon as the elite turned, his confidence vanished, replaced by an unsure smile as he added to himself. "kinda"

Nevertheless, the trained hearing of an agent could perceive all, and the murmur against the metallic roar was no exception. "Kinda?" The comment was rewarded with a rise of an eyebrow from the pale adult while the tall brunet next to him displayed a cocky smirk.

"N-not the problem as of now. First, how about we finish with this Neighbors, then you can question me all you want. Sounds good?" His answer came in the form of a 'tch', which was better than silence, because silence meant slowly painful ending; something Tachikawa was quite knowledgeable of. Getting a sound out of him was a good sing, telling Jin that he had dodged the figurative bullet merely grazing it.

With the issue of who would battle who, resolved and out of the way, each agent parted ways to engage their respective opponent. Tachikawa went back to the obsidian mutation exchanging blows with the decreasing blades, each time they met in midair. Kazama, he had double trouble to return to, and to tell the truth he was starting to get annoyed, might as well put an end to it all. While Jin, well he was already set for the battle.

The former S-class agent immediately put his brain at work, analyzing his situation along his enemy for weaknesses as well as strengths that would help to formulate a strategy. Sure, he knew the mighty potential of its body, but that was it. He didn't know how it was programed to fight, how it moved or its fighting pattern, something else that would increase his opportunities. Guess Jin would have to find out the old way.

Back at Tahikawa. The brunette by now had managed to dispose of the blades from the Obsidian Marmod, said feat had took him more than he expected due to the enhance speed the Trion Soldiers possessed. Even so, with a steady pace it was done, now it only rested for the finishing blow to be deliver to put the Altered Mole Mod permanently out of order.

The number one attacker set his pose at the ready, his twin 'kogetsus' out an more than eager to taste some new flesh. The scene resemble a bullfight from the west with Tachikawa as the bullfighter and the Black war machine as the bull. And they were positioned like that too, both of the opponents facing each other darning the other to make the first move.

The bull went first, with all the intention in the world to ram into the agent and sent him flying toward his creators' planet. But naturally the leader squad was prepared for it. When the Trion Soldier reached where the tall brunette was supposed to be, Tachikawa went to the air but no thanks to the bull. At last minute he jumped to be over the enemy and with a swift move he was now upside down. Just as the obsidian machine passed below him, the crossed twin blades sliced through him starting from the notorious and intimidating eye all the way till the tail.

By the time the combatant returned to the ground and back at his feet, the threat was no more than pieces of its former self, spreading Green Trion at the atmosphere.

In a different battle, a pink abomination laid in scraps some distance away from his brown sibling with a shadow looming over it. A pair of cold crimson eyes stared admiring his work before he changed focus to the remaining counterpart. The subject kept struggling to free itself from his own mistake, however that didn't entail it was defenseless, true it had to blades stuck on the ground, still it had four more at his disposal.

All this didn't faced Kazama one bit. He sprinted toward the Neighbor at full speed, never intimidated when the Mole Mod raised his deadly scythes to stab the warrior. And it did, but with the impulse the number two attacker had, he let himself drop and slide under the belly of the light brown Marmod just as five simultaneous blades clawed the ground. Once under the beast, Kazama kicked the abdomen hard and sent it crashing upside down, its weapons useless at the moment.

In the meantime the pale young man had fought with the mutation, he observed that unlike all its body the lower part wasn't as protected as the rest, surely too cocky to assume someone would ever consider to strike from below. Well, he was about to do it. Kazama landed on top the abdomen his two Trion-made weapons giving the final blow and the Marmod burst in particles of Trion.

As for Jin, he was… well he was faring well. Until…

Just as before, an overlapping image invaded the elite's field vision. And unlike the previous time, Jin had started to get used to the invading predictions from this chaotic day. Because it only sufficed this day or invasion, to throw all his practice he had been having since he was a little kid.

Anyway, the point was that no reaction escaped the hazelnut haired teen… yet.

The vision couldn't be clear as the sky without invading Neighbors. Even the tiniest detail was visible to the seer, as they should according to past experiences. It could only mean thing: This was the most probable near future and whatever happen in it, would define the outcome of this invasion.

 _ **It all started in a school with an oddly resemblance of the one Jin himself had been early this afternoon. The carcasses of various common types of Neighbors were in the exact same spot the agent remembered seeing before he left. However, it appeared to be new additions to the old corpses, colorful additions in contrast of the dull white that adorned the school floor, same pattern of colors his enemies had.**_

' _Yahsamaru series, Should have known. With a high concentration of population in that place, it had to be an obvious target.'_ A low blow in Jin's opinion, attacking children that clearly couldn't defend themselves was not an honorary move. The higher ups must have been truly desperate to achieve their objective to target all the same. Then again, it hadn't been as if Aftokrator and the first invaders hadn't done the same.

Regardless, he shouldn't worry about that threat anymore, seeing as the deadly machines were nothing more than remains of wat they once used to be. Whatever squad had done that, were certainly powerful. And by now, Jin was beginning to have a pretty good idea of who the responsible for the mutation's demise were. Nothing surprising there, they belong to Tamakoma branch after all.

 _ **So with the Altered Marmods out of the way, another enemy must have been the responsible of the ruckus in the institute. And by ruckus, he didn't mean a stampede of people out of fear, nope, no this time. There were shouts, yes, but unlike the group of civilians the famous agent got to handle, the screams weren't from panic, instead they consisted in encouragement, cheering and plenty of hateful ones accompanied with a diversity of a vocabulary that must kids should not know yet. All courtesy of the locals from the school, conformed mostly by students and teachers every here and there.**_

 _ **Apparently, the student body had been safely evacuated into the school's refuge and away of the combat zone, so why there were voices screaming at the top of their lungs when the school was supposed to be empty? Well, because from what Jin could observe, it appeared that the rooftops of the buildings were said refuge; seeing as how they were packed with small persons wearing the same outfit.**_

 _ **White and dark blue predominated on the space of the rooftops' surface, with the exception of two spots that stood out in contrast of the monotonous colors. Two figures dressed in bright blue combat uniforms were positioned among his fellow classmates, a pair of two black-haired, one female and the other male with a great gap in height between them. No further details were required for the seer to recognize the pair, he could perfectly pinpoint his little kouhais wherever they were. Let it be from kilometers away or from the other side of the city, heck even from the gossiping words from other agents he would identify them without a second thought.**_

 _ **The minors stood watching intently what the vident assumed was a fight taking place down below in the courtyard of the institute. Nevertheless, with a pose suggesting they were ready to intervene if the enemy ever decided to target the civilians instead. Jin was so proud that he could shed a tear, his pupils have come so far, all his efforts had born fruit.**_

 _ **But wait… Something was off in the picture… One of his cute little kouhais was missing! They usually used to be three. Even so, right now it was only Four-Eyes and Chika-chan, the feisty member of the squad was currently absent. But there had been a fight going on, hadn't it? And if Jin knew the Chibi agent as he claimed he did, then the watcher had an exact idea where his charge could be.**_

 _ **And that was in the middle of the conflict.**_

 _ **As if to solidify his claim, the vision changed scenes, capturing an overview take of the school. This allowed the seer to have a wide view of the institute and consequently the battle in the middle of the courtyard. From what Jin could witness, several figures,**_ **humanoid** _ **figures totally clad in black from head to toe and not the Altered Trion Soldiers him and his friends were engaging, were the center of the disturbance.**_ _'Humanoid Neighbors, eh? Just when I was starting to think it had been too good to be true that no humanoid Neighbor had presented themselves yet.'_

 _ **However, only one subject differed from the rest, despite being clad in black suit. Unlike the otherworldly invaders who wore black helmets to conceal their identities from the prying eyes of Midden's residents, he didn't have the need for one. Thus, revealing a stark white hair and ruby eyes that usually tended to be playful and sarcastic.**_

 _ **However, that wasn't the case right now.**_

 _ **Right now those eyes were cold and calculative, scrutinizing his surroundings as well as his opponent, in order to, what Jin assumed, come up with a plan that would exploit his enemies' weaknesses and allow him to result victorious.**_

Despite being from the Neighborhood, the young outsider stood against his kind, willing to protect Midden and those who lived with it, especially his friends. It also influenced that this was his father's home planet, he so much cherished when the old man was alive.

Yep, there was no doubt about it, it was his missing pupil Yuuma…

… Who was wearing his black Trigger.

That was not a good sign… Kido-san would probably throw a tantrum after finding out. Oh well.

 _ **Yuuma moved graciously through the battle field, summoning seals here and there until the bad guys were left spreading far too much Trion to continue fighting. The albino from his part wasn't fairing any better, sure he was standing but with gashes on his body from where he had been careless enough for the enemy to land a blow.**_

 _ **Now, done with the apparent threat the agents and the students alike, allowed themselves to breathe a sigh of relief, dissipating the tension and adrenaline they didn't know they possessed. Jin was able to see the exact moment all presents let their shoulders fall in relief or lean over the balcony in the verge of passing out. Just like Osamu almost did when the feisty Neighbor turned toward his leader and display his typical Yuuma face indicating everything being alright, while Chika delimited herself to give an encouraging kind smile.**_

The vision pointed that their little Kouhais would take on the situation in a way that would lead them to victory. He shouldn't be worry… then, why did the elite still felt the nagging uneasy feeling from the morning, increase tenfold than before? Thankfully, he didn't have to wait long to get his answer.

 _ **A flash of movement in the corner of Jin's peripheral vision, caught the teen's attention. But it had been like those times when one is not completely sure if it ever happened or it was just the brain playing tricks. However, the watcher hadn't been the only one to take note of the sudden movement. Yuuma's duckface disappeared in its totality from his features substituted by his warrior self. Immediately, the boy turned around to confront whoever the offender was, that for an unknown reason Jin wasn't able to see.**_

 _ **And shock was portrayed in those widen eyes of the albino.**_

 _ **Not just said feeling, but also fear, dread and doom were present in the mix of emotions shown in the red windows of the soul.**_

Before more could be known, the vision abruptly ended with nothingness, much to the elite's dismay. Slowly colors and images of his current place, returned to his eyesight but despite regaining normalcy, Jin never made the effort to move, dazed even now and trying to process the future he had just witnessed.

After watching the exaggerated and rare reaction from his cute kouhai, sent warning chills down his body. The shock must had been immense to accomplish the crumble of the of the young Neighbor's cold façade. What could possibly get that kind of reaction out of the stoic boy?

Jin, tried several times to force the activation of his Side Effect, but it was futile, nothing came at his command. Why? WHY?... Unless… because there weren't any more futures left for Yuuma to live, meaning that the vision he had just seen was …

"JIN, WATCH OUT!"

Immerse in his inner dilemma, the addressed teen had failed to take into consideration that not everyone in his surroundings had the same effect as him. What for the hazelnut haired teen had been like a lifetime, for the presents was nothing but mere seconds. From a different point of view, what had transpired few minutes ago never happened. Too focused in their own mission when an abrupt halt from the branch agent just as the golden Marmod prepared his strike, caught their attention. That's how Tachikawa found himself shouting at his rival of the incoming attack.

However, the warning came too late.

By the time Jin returned from the depth of his mind, a glimpse of the claw was what he got to see before the former S-class agent realized he was soaring into air and went crash-landing through one or two or more buildings. When the cloud of dust (created from the hard impact) had finally settled, a Jin sprawled and buried in debris was revealed. And yet, not sign of awareness was present at the moment, instead the deceitful sapphire eyes portrayed a far away look. Sure, the victim had turn back to reality right before the attack, but it might had simply lasted scarce minutes before it went right back into his thoughts.

In Jin's space of thinking only one thing matter, and that was Yuuma.

Everything else was irrelevant. So, with priority in mind, Jin conferred full command of his body toward his instincts to deal with the obstacles thrown at his way as he made to reach his destination. The moment, the hazelnut haired teen rose to his feet, he was set into motion. Jin didn't know how he did it, nor did he care, only that as soon as he return to the battle, in a blink of an eye the deadly machine laid obsolete at his feet.

His companions for their part, were left astonished for the agent's rash and yet effective actions. And not only them but a certain trio who was supposed to be on their way to HQ to deliver two packages. Not that Jin had paid any mind to all of this, though, for he was on the run once again.

"Jin! Oi Jin! Wait!" The shout was defiantly from Tachikawa.

"Jin, explain yourself!"And that one from Kazama.

Jin didn't have to turn to know from whom those shouts belonged to, forever committed to memory since the day they met. And he wasn't planning on doing it anyway; the elite agent didn't have the luxury to do so and waste time.

"What the hell is wrong with you?!" Tachikawa again and he sounded beyond pissed. His voice never decreased as it's supposed to do when they distance from each other, no, the voice remained steady, perhaps a little strained for all the exertion being made but never falling behind.

"We are right behind you, Kazama-san" Utagawa, always loyally following behind his leader.

"They should have left at least one to surely could have dealt with the mutant neighbor without a problem." A Kikuchihara, forever confident and coolheaded Kikuchihara.

"And again they don't need back up. I don't even know why I'm going along."Definitely Izumi. Poor guy, the sand-haired teen was always set aside when the three of them were together, nevertheless Izumi never failed to support them.

"You better stop now. Don't make it worse than it already is!" Strangely enough, Kazama's voice let out a pinch of temper, which was much considering the young man hardly expressed any feelings through any part or form of his body. Indicating that what the leader of team Kazama meant was serious, well, more than he is used to.

The shouts continued, desperate to obtain his attention but the addressed teen wasn't having any of that. Jin continued to ignore them as he made his way as fast as possible toward his destination, and still the Tamakoma agent got a long way to go. The calls never ceased their efforts, nevertheless they were spending their voice in vain as Jin never faltered in his steps. They weren't important right now, the hazelnut haired man knew his companions would get mad, furious even, and would demand an explanation for his rash action. But that was fine by him, he would take that risk and face the consequences of his acts later.

Just now, someone far more important was at risk. And he had – no, _must_ prevent it from happening at all costs, or this would be something that no matter how many times he would apologize, Jin would never _ever_ be able to forgive himself.

"Jin-san, I see you moving at high speed. What's the matter? What's wrong?" The female voice that had previously been all jokes and tease, much like his, had morph into one full of worry for his friend, although it wasn't him who the operator's concern should be directed.

"No time, Usami. I must make it in time." The ex S-class agent only had mere minutes before his vision came true, as it always happened since the start of this battle. And Jin prayed to whoever was listening, that for once he was granted the permission to prevent it.

"In time for what? What did you see?" Certainly, not the best thing to say because if the cocky teen wanted for her to calm down and respond to his order, he hadn't succeeded. Instead Jin made Shiori think the worst, like he previously had done with his pupils. "Was something dangerous? Will someone die? Wi–"

"I said not now!" Jin just could think about _that_ as an outcome and listening to her say it only made it more realistic for his liking. Shiori was an understandable girl, she would sympathize with him rather than be upset by the snap, so it was fine, he would apologize later. The combatant could only shut his eyes and clutch his Trion-made weapons as an effort to dissipate the lingering remnant of the vision that kept repeating one after another. "Reiji-san, Kyosuke, Konami! Stop what you are doing and head for our Kouhais' school immediately!"

And of course it was the gullible Kirie Konami who had to answer. "Ehh? Are you kidding me? I'm in the middle of something her-"

"I don't care! Do as I say! Now!" Frustration was starting to consume him since nothing appeared to be working on his favor. Couldn't they just not make it difficult by asking useless questions and accept the orders without second doubts?

"Understood. On our way" At least someone could. ' _Thank you Reiji, I know I can count on you and Torimaru'_

Knowing that he counted with the help of the strongest agents from Border, made the elite agent feel more at ease, well just a bit, hence the use of nickname; still his pace never slowed down.

"Oi, Jin! God dammit! I'm talking to you!" And it didn't last long when he was back at his previous mood.

Tachikawa could yell until going hoarse for all he cared, he wasn't going to stop. Right now, a second could make a difference and if he spent that second explaining to his companions, then it would be too late. They would surely understand when they reach the destination.

Which was still some meters away.

The spark of doubt was starting to enter the warrior's mind but Jin was quick to put it out. If he started to think like that, then he might as well be giving up and it was something the lone hero could not possibly do and much less when his cute little junior was counting on him, even if the junior himself didn't know it yet.

The image of the ending of his vision, forever engraved in his mind, left him a sour taste. Shock and fear were manifested in the young neighbor's face, sentiments rarely found in him and the total opposite of what could be categorized as a normal Yuuma behavior. The hazelnut haired teen could bet all his boxes of fried rice crackers that it would be the second time the albino had felt the same, with the first one being right before his death, when the boy had met his grim reaper.

Jin would be damned if he let that happen twice.

That's why he pressed his legs until they couldn't give more. He owed Replica-sensei at least that much and he would not fail. He will not.

The institute was now at sight, just few more steps and Jin would have made it. Just a few more. The Elite agent could begin to spot smoke and concrete crumbling, surely product of Yuuma's Trigger. A grin appeared in the Tamakoma agent factions at the simple thought of his Kouhai beating up the perpetrators. Jin felt kind of stupid for thinking the Humanoid Neighbor couldn't handle it, he was after all, a war veteran and it would not be easy to take down. Knowing that made Jin feel more reassured. Maybe things would be right after all–

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

A blood curling scream overpowered every rumbling and explosive sound from the battle in and near the location, halting all action in the process. It took long seconds to end but when it did only silence prevailed. Not a single noise could be heard, not from the automobiles, or the chirps from the birds or from the citizens being evacuated… Nothing.

Shock was clear in each witness. A representation of the jumble of emotions they really felt.

To any person present, the deafening yell meant someone had been injured but Jin knew it signified something much graver than that. What it truly indicate was:

The _enemy_ had succeeded…

… and _he_ had failed.

"YUUMA!"

 **\- To Be Continued-**

* * *

 **A/N: Urg! Jin you are a walking spoiler! Well, at least I hope that little piece will satisfy you until we get to Yuuma.**

 **By the way, the thing with Yashamaru series and the enemie using them it's total coincidence. Because of who the enemy is, they use Marmods (I think) and well Marmods are weak, at least for Jin and company. And I needed ones more powerful and instead of creating horrible Trion Soldiers, I decided to use Shiori's.**

 **Thanks to your replies, I have decided to use the characters of the manga and if by any chance the OC's from the anime fit, I will add them. Heh funny thing. I posted the second chapter just as the filler was starting and now World Trigger it's almost over. (Since they said they were going to replace it for a Sport program) ... he he funny... sorry?**

 **Reviews**

 **° Chills10124: Awesome that you liked it! I think about them like that because their personalities are so different that they would clash. Thank you so much for your kind words, it's always great to get a review from you!**

 **° xx sHioN: Thanks for your corrections, I'll be sure to check my past works to correct them. You are a big help! Thanks for your compliments!**

 **° Awsome Sauce: No harm done, it's actually better to forget and then be surprised with a new chapter, than to wait forever. I agree with you, the actual opening it's great, but my favorite is GIRI GIRI. Oh, and hopefully your speculations were cleared in this chapter, unfortunately, yes he got to see it.**

 **° Guest: I'm so sorry for the long wait. I hope it was worth it.**

 **° LittleChomper: Well, it's not intentionally but yes they can. I don't really want to hurt Yuuma (deep down in me really wants) but sadly it has to be done.**

 **° Chick1966: Not quitting, not any time soon.**

 **° ajsfriends: emm... late but an update!**

 **° yaoiprincess101: Sadly it didn't happen, we did get to see his black Trigger again though. Although it felt as they just put it there for fanservice.**

 **° luna0starlight: (Assuming you are the anonymous with the same name) Please don't kill me! It took me so long because I didn't want for the chapter to feel slow paced. I was planning on cutting it in two again but I couldn't do that to you anymore. And I know it's not about Yuuma-kun, but I'm a sucker for other people reactions that I had to make it. Well, also this fic won't be centered in Yuuma for the most part because he is going to be incapacitated, but I hope you will give it a chance. It doesn't hurt me (much. haha kidding) Criticism is always welcome.**

 **° Lokithenightfury: I love Night Furies! HTTYD FTW! *hem hem* Thanks! Although I thinks sometimes it's just too much description. Glad you like it!.**

 **° PowderBlueFeathers: I will update but please be patient (not that I'm complaining, sometimes I'm like that too) Thanks for your support!**

 **That's that, folks. I got the eight volume of the manga this week but I swore not to read it until I published this chapter. And now that it's done... I will finally read it! while listening to Gorillaz! Perfect!**

 **KuroKapibara out!**


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